It was only last week that I saw the trailer for The Awakening. I understand the lengthy process of film making but this seems to have come out of nowhere to me. I hadn't read anything about it in the run up to its release and only had the trailer to whet my appetite before deciding to go and see the movie.
But the trailer was enough and I did go and see the film this weekend. The tale is one of a boys boarding school in the 1920s which is being plagued by a ghost. One of the teachers at the school, Mr Mallory (Dominic West), is prompted by the matron (Imelda Staunton) to visit novelist Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) who is famed for disproving ghost sightings and seances. Florence visits the school and sets booby traps for boys she believes are wandering around the school at night frightening other pupils. It's only when she has a horrifying encounter of her own that she starts to wonder if her hoax theories are true after all.
I'm very glad that I saw the trailer for The Awakening or I might have missed this small British film entirely. And while I think it would work as well on DVD as it does in the cinema, there is something quite frightening about a pitch black room and a screen so big they make the terror that much bigger and therefore all the more scary.
Eerily shot at Manderston House on the Scottish border, with very little in the way of effects, it's all about the set up and the environment. At its core this is a haunted house movie. But unlike the Paranormal Activities of this era, The Awakening evokes reminiscences of films like The Others, which although I didn't love, I could appreciate it had originality and was genuinely eerie to watch.
The Awakening is very similar in that respect, more of an old school ghost movie. So many scary films these days it's all about murderers or CGI so it's nice to see a good old fashioned haunting. And it really is the simple touches, the use of darkness, an unfamiliar and large house where you don't know what's hiding behind each corner, a sound in another room, the camera passing by someone that your main character hasn't noticed, all of these things are much scarier than the big shocks which are designed to get a scream from the audience. I guess because the things you imagine are often much worse than the reality.
There are enough scares and jumps here to keep modern horror fans entertained, and good enough acting in between the scares and jumps for everyone else. Like The Others, The Awakening also has a twist in the end. And I am happy to say that although we had our guesses, neither me or my companion guessed the twist. And I even came up with a further question at the end. I won't spoil it for anyone wanting to go and see but I'll ask you to comment if you've seen it and have your own theories. And if you haven't seen it, don't scroll down to the comments!
Worth a watch but you might need to hide under your coat when she's looking through the spy hole. 8.5 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 12th November 2011
UK Release Date - 11th November 2011
Cast Overview:
Rebecca Hall ~ Florence Cathcart
Dominic West ~ Robert Mallory
Imelda Staunton ~ Maud Hill
Isaac Hempstead Wright ~ Tom
Joseph Mawle ~ Edward Judd
Director ~ Nick Murphy
Writer(s) ~ Stephen Volk and Nick Murphy
Ooh! Nice!
ReplyDeleteIn a 'not what you were expecting' sort of way? ;0)
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