The
Quiet Ones
(2014/Hammer/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B-
The
Quiet Ones
is a British horror film that should have went wider in the US and
didn't for some odd reason. It's a spooky little supernatural tale
based off true events and is produced by the infamous Hammer Studio.
Based on true events, the film stars Jarred Harris as a chain smoking
Oxford University professor who is obsessed with the supernatural and
wants to prove the existence of the paranormal by extreme measures if
necessary. With a small team of three students, they intensely study
a young girl who is very disturbed and put her in isolation with the
hope to prove that her powers are otherworldly. Taking place in the
1970s, the film is loosely based on the Philip experiment, a 1972
parapsychology experiment conducted in Toronto.
Employing
some unique uses of old film stock (or imitations thereof, i.e. Fuji,
Agfa or Ektachrome) mixed with new the cinematography is great and
adds a great period feel to the film and makes it a little more
frightening then your typical attempt at a ghost movie but never
quite reaches the heights of The
Conjuring.
Oxford,
1970s: A student attends the class of college professor, Coupland
(Jarred Harris), who wishes to prove there is no supernatural. He
shows a video of a possessed boy and explains that research will be
done to find a cure for this kind of disease. One of his students,
Brian McNeil (Sam Claflin), is invited to film the experiment process
and joins Coupland, his two assistants Krissi (Erin Richards) and
Harry (Rory Fleck-Byrne) and their subject Jane Harper (Olivia
Cooke), a young woman who generates strange phenomena and has been
abandoned. Jane is generally kept locked in a room with loud rock
music playing during the daytime to prevent her from sleeping in the
hopes that the psychological agitation will result in increased
activity but succeeds more at upsetting the neighbors with all of the
commotion.
Coupland
and his assistants settle in an isolated house in the countryside to
keep experimenting on Jane. Jane's negative energy takes the form of
Evey,
an infant doll-like creature only Jane sees. Jane is then given a
physical doll to put her negative energy in to destroy it. The
further the researchers drive Jane to insanity with their methods,
the stranger things get around the house. Brian is upset by the way
Jane is treated and the lack of ethics in the experiment. Evey's
apparitions become increasingly aggressive and Jane begins to
self-harm. Things get more and more creepy as the film progresses to
which I won't spoil but I have to say the final scenes aren't half
bad.
The
sound and picture on the disc are pretty superb with a 1080p high
definition image in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the original
exhibition captures the superb picture quality. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) lossless track in 5.1 is crisp and clear and enhances
the experiments with some scenes that are quiet and then loud then
creepy things start to happen. Also on the disc is a Spanish 5.1
Dolby Digital track and an English SDH track and Subtitles in English
and Spanish.
Extras
on the disc aren't half bad - Commentary
with the Director and Producer, Welcome to the Experiment: Making The
Quiet Ones Documentary, An Ominous Opening Featurette, Deleted
Scenes, and Outtakes.
All
in all, if you are a fan of the paranormal and are looking for
something creepy to watch then this film is definitely worth a
gander. It's by no means a classic but is more entertaining than
Hammer's previous effort, The
Woman in Black.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv
