Directed by: Paul Andrew Williams
Starring: Andy Serkis, Reece Shearsmith, Jennifer Ellison, Steven O'Donnell
Plot: In a remote part of the countryside, a bungled kidnapping turns into a living nightmare for four central characters when they cross paths with a psychopathic farmer and all hell breaks loose. Taken from www.imdb.com
I watched the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn" when I was far too young to see it. I was in 3rd grade and my brother's friend brought it over to watch. The deal made to me was that I could stay up and watch it with them if I didn't tell Mom and Dad and I sat quietly and watched.
Of course, knowing absolutely nothing of this movie, I didn't know it was a movie about vampires. I thought I was watching a movie about 2 criminals on the road to Mexico. So when the vampires came into this movie my mind was blown. I gained a greater appreciation for the movie than those going in expecting vampires.
The bait-and-switch method used in "From Dusk Till Dawn" has now become popular in British horror comedies with an offbeat sense of dark humor known for the characteristics of offering up a story that doesn't start out as horror, mutilating its leading characters, and ending on ambiguous or downbeat terms.
This is, in my mind, the true British comedy-horror movie as "Shaun of the Dead" was using a style pioneered by American director Sam Raimi and later utilized by New Zealand director Peter Jackson.
"The Cottage" is a movie where you'll wonder if what you're watching is even a horror movie. At first it just seems like a dark crime comedy that will involve the main characters/kidnappers David (Andy Serkis) and his wimpy younger brother Peter (Reece Shearsmith) taking on a couple of Asiain hitmen in the woods. This setup leads you to believe you are about to watch utter shit.
Of course, that's where the twist comes in. About halfway through the movie Andy Serkis' character takes a trip into town to use a phone and is accosted by local townsfolk telling him to stay indoors and not go outside for any reason. This is where things take a turn for the weird as all the characters become accosted by a giant deformed man in a flannel shirt and that's when the movie becomes brilliant.
Reece Shearsmith is what passes for the main character of this piece. A wimpy whiny imbecilic man who is married to a giant horrible woman, has an abusive sibling, and spends most of the movie getting his ass beat by a girl. Peter is an endearing but horribly annoying character and while I understand the comedic reasons why they chose Peter to shoulder most of the story I would of much rather followed David, and speaking of David...
Most people only know Andy Serkis as Gollum from the "Lord of the Rings" movies and as the motion capture guy behind the giant monkey in "King Kong." Those people will also be surprised to find that Serkis is actually a rather large and reasonably intimidating man and a damn good actor to boot. David is the best character in this movie by far and doesn't get near enough screen time.
Jennifer Ellison plays Tracey, the kidnappee in Peter and David's extortion plan. Tracey is a horrible shrewd harpy woman who you can't wait to die. Of course that's the point, but even still she's hard to stomach.
The plot-twist in "The Cottage" and where it takes the film are the best part but the lead up is a bit weak. As I said, up until the twist I was watching just out of sheer dedication to see the end credits and the first half of the movie is pretty sparse and lackluster.
Of course I'm biased about the twist as, just like "From Dusk Till Dawn" those many years ago I didn't know a damn thing about the movie and the twist came as a huge surprise to me. But due to the padded prologue, the finale feels incredibly rushed. I was watching the seconds tick away and was wondering how in the hell they planned to resolve the movie in the time they had left.
As such the ending seems incredibly rushed and as such I found that to be the worst part of the movie as things seem unfinished and hurried along. Though the ending just before the credits hit is great even if you do see it coming.
Of the "dumb Englishmen getting assaulted by thing in the woods" horror comedy (of which there are a lot more than you think) "The Cottage" isn't as good as "Severance" and the opening is tedious to say the least. But the second half of the film, though rushed, makes up for the shortcomings of the first.
I give "The Cottage" a 4 out of 5.
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