I remember way back in the day when I was just barely a teenager and this movie was being advertised. It looked like a comedy with half the trailer dedicated to David Arquette's character laughing and some of the more quippy one-liners. This was so terribly marketed that it was destined to fail. I had watched it randomly ~10 years ago and was OK, but instantly forgot about it. I just rented it again after it popping into my mind randomly and then continuing to read the good/pleasantly surprised-type reviews...and I'm glad I did! So If you're here reading this and you've got a hunger (pun fully intended) for a good period horror/thriller/black comedy - you've probably seen the aforementioned godawful trailer...erase that from your mind, stop reading, and dive in to this forgotten gem of the 90s.
If you have seen it - this might be a stretch of a comparison, but I liken the plot progression to something like Event Horizon. If you're a fan of that movie, it will cross over quite well. It contains some cool supernatural elements, along with a couple great twists, and a healthy dose of horror/gore and manages to balance them really well on what looks like a shoestring budget movie. The score, which may be one of the more unique things about the film, is quite jarring and really sets the tense and disturbing mood of the movie. Definitely a good home-alone-in-the-dark horror (and a smidgen of dark humor as well) flick. Best viewed in the cold winter months and a bowl of your favorite human soup...wait...
P.S. Robert Carlyle is just absolutely fantastic in this, as he is in most anything he appears in.
If you have seen it - this might be a stretch of a comparison, but I liken the plot progression to something like Event Horizon. If you're a fan of that movie, it will cross over quite well. It contains some cool supernatural elements, along with a couple great twists, and a healthy dose of horror/gore and manages to balance them really well on what looks like a shoestring budget movie. The score, which may be one of the more unique things about the film, is quite jarring and really sets the tense and disturbing mood of the movie. Definitely a good home-alone-in-the-dark horror (and a smidgen of dark humor as well) flick. Best viewed in the cold winter months and a bowl of your favorite human soup...wait...
P.S. Robert Carlyle is just absolutely fantastic in this, as he is in most anything he appears in.