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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	2009
Country of origin:	Australia
Director:	Sean Byrne
Genre:	Family horror / black comedy
Starring:	Xavier Samuel,  Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee, Richard Wilson
Rating:	5/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1316536/
Tagline:	ou don't have to die to go to hell
Favourite line:	" You've got 10 seconds to go or Daddy's gonna nail it to the chair"

Carrie, Oz-style.

The plot:
Brent is a young man with a troubled past. Involved in a car accidenty, which saw his father killed, he is slowly putting his life back together. Planning to attned the End of School Dance with girlfriend Holly, Brent is complelled ot turn down school weirdo Lola.
But Lola is a girl who doesn’t like to take no for an answer.
Whilst walking from his own home to Holly’s, Brent is attacked from behind, and knocked unconscious.
Awakening, he discovers he is in Lola’s living room, a disco ball spinning in the ceiling, and the table is set for dinner.
Her Dad is there, too.
And so are the cannibals beneath the floorboards…..
Alright, it’s an inversion of Carrie, if you like, but it’s a worthy successor, nonetheless. Australia, they don’t make many horror movies but, those they do, tend to be pretty visceral affairs. From Body Melt to Razorback, Saw (the short which became the full length) to Wolf Creek, they know how to do gristle and grime in the same way Old Blighty can do gritty and ‘grim up North’ domestic dramas.
After the timidity of Frozen, it was a genuine treat to watch a horror movie actually aimed at grown-ups.
It’s really well written, too.
Alongside the main plot, a sub-plot unfolds, involving a friend of Brent – unaware of the predicament his friend is in – and his attempts to woo a young lady. Beautifully observed, it will surely resonate with any man of a certain age, and bring back memories of awkward fumblings and crippling shyness.
Wonderfully acted, with strong characters, humour throughout, though of the blackest variety and some scenes tough enough to make even hardened veterans wince, there is really little to fault here, save the odd lapse into slapstick, though these are infrequent and very, very brief.
As debuts go, writer / director Sean Byrne really could not have done much better.
Fuck me, this is good.