Estranged (2015)

Pretty Good

An Exercise In Nonsense

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I wouldn't put Estranged in the horror genre, in the thriller genre yes. There is some mystery during the entire movie and even if you start guessing right it's still entertaining to watch. The actors were not bad so there is nothing bad to say about that either. It's a dark movie, certainly not a joyful one, with some severe sick in the head people but not the kind that makes your stomach turn. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, and it isn't a masterpiece, but it's certainly watchable. To me it could have used a bit more blood and physical torture to make it a good horror movie. Now it was emotional torture and that has never the same outcome. But if you do like those kind of stories then just give this one a go. You won't be disappointed.

Callum (Simon Quarterman) and January (Amy Manson) vacation in Brazil until they kiss an automobile with their scooter. Callum gets a scratch while January loses her memory and the the loss of her legs. They return to her childhood manor where she can't remember any of the creepy people or more importantly why she left in the first place. Things become weird as they always do in this type of film.I liked the name January, named for the god Janus who looks both to the past and future. Very clever. The problem is that this genre has been so overdone, there is nothing else clever that they bring to the production. I was bored for most of the film waiting for the scary secrets to reveal themselves, not even interested in the clues...which were mostly head fakes, as the characters were miserably portrayed and lacked depth.The DVD cover of January with a gun was a bit of a plot spoiler as that scene doesn't come to late in the film. It was a film I have felt I have seen before a half dozen times and didn't enjoy it then.Guide: F-word (spoken and written) rape. No nudity.

BLEAK AND BRUTAL,THIS FILM IS RELENTLESS. NO HAPPY FAMILIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS HERE, JUST LOTS OF SECRETS, SUCIDES, INCEST, RAPE AND DEATH. ALL IN ALL, A GOOD FILM, ALTHOUGH I WANTED THE BOYFRIEND TO LIVE A BIT LONGER.

This movie brings to mind the hey day of early seventies low budget British shockers from the likes of Amicus, Tigon, and Hammer. The days when all you needed to make a film was a spirited cast, a largely unknown bolstered by a single "name" performer recognisable to Americans (in this instance James Cosmo), and free access to a down at heel stately home.It's hard to classify this movie in terms of genre, neither truly a thriller nor a horror. – it's more of a "creeper" than anything else. The sense of unease is ramped up throughout the convoluted twists and turns of the plot before plunging into true horror in the final third.I think this has presented a problem for the marketing department and I feel that they may be making a mistake in the way that they are presenting it. Many people will feel mislead and disappointed that this isn't the horror movie that the posters suggest, which is a shame since it's more than that, it's a taught, well acted chiller that deserves to be more widely seen.