Possum (15.)
Directed by Matthew Holness.
Starring Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong. 85 mins
Probably all you need to know about this British chiller is that the (very eerie and effective) music is by the (ex-BBC) Radiophonic Workshop. They provided the original Doctor Who theme tune as well as many other innovative, groundbreaking pieces of electronica. As the creator of Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, first time director Holness is a man who likes to look backwards for his scares. Their sound, married to the menacing look of 70's public information films create an exercise in putting the retro willies up anyone of a certain age.
Arriving on an Intercity train (remember the 70s were supposed to be The Age of the Train, according to Jimmy Savile) in a dirty raincoat, Sean Harris returns to his decrepit childhood home, carrying a bag containing something very unpleasant, something with long spider's legs and a porcelain doll's face. It's a thing that might once have been used as a puppet at a children's show; a show that was not well received. It's something he wants to get rid of, but can't. Because some things from childhood never leave you.
If you feel that having your skin crawl for nearly an hour and a half would be therapeutic, this is the film for you. The late afternoon autumn sun sheds watery light over a selection of hideous Norfolk locations: menacing bits of woodland, derelict buildings. His childhood home is like the unkept council house that everybody else tries to ignore, not wanting to imagine the mouldy squalor within.
The film's sense of dread and disgust is overwhelming. This mood though, is all the film really has. As a twenty minute short it could've been remarkable but as a feature, you quickly become aware that you seem to be seeing the same things happen over and over again. It's just a holding pattern until a decisive event and the film finishing.
The sense of corrupted childhood is uncanny though, and that doll is quite disgustingly unpleasant. I had a relatively content childhood but do remember the world seeming to be a terrible, scary place. We worry today about what children are exposed to online and parents over cosseting their children by keeping them indoors. Possum reminds us of what terrible things kids get up when allowed to go off and explore.
Directed by Matthew Holness.
Starring Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong. 85 mins
Probably all you need to know about this British chiller is that the (very eerie and effective) music is by the (ex-BBC) Radiophonic Workshop. They provided the original Doctor Who theme tune as well as many other innovative, groundbreaking pieces of electronica. As the creator of Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, first time director Holness is a man who likes to look backwards for his scares. Their sound, married to the menacing look of 70's public information films create an exercise in putting the retro willies up anyone of a certain age.
Arriving on an Intercity train (remember the 70s were supposed to be The Age of the Train, according to Jimmy Savile) in a dirty raincoat, Sean Harris returns to his decrepit childhood home, carrying a bag containing something very unpleasant, something with long spider's legs and a porcelain doll's face. It's a thing that might once have been used as a puppet at a children's show; a show that was not well received. It's something he wants to get rid of, but can't. Because some things from childhood never leave you.
If you feel that having your skin crawl for nearly an hour and a half would be therapeutic, this is the film for you. The late afternoon autumn sun sheds watery light over a selection of hideous Norfolk locations: menacing bits of woodland, derelict buildings. His childhood home is like the unkept council house that everybody else tries to ignore, not wanting to imagine the mouldy squalor within.
The film's sense of dread and disgust is overwhelming. This mood though, is all the film really has. As a twenty minute short it could've been remarkable but as a feature, you quickly become aware that you seem to be seeing the same things happen over and over again. It's just a holding pattern until a decisive event and the film finishing.
The sense of corrupted childhood is uncanny though, and that doll is quite disgustingly unpleasant. I had a relatively content childhood but do remember the world seeming to be a terrible, scary place. We worry today about what children are exposed to online and parents over cosseting their children by keeping them indoors. Possum reminds us of what terrible things kids get up when allowed to go off and explore.
