UNWELCOME
Cert 15
104 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, bloody violence, sexual threat, very strong language
A lead character who looks and sounds like Jack Whitehall, little people who look like Gremlins and a very weird local pub.
Belatedly, it occurred to me that Unwelcome was a comedy. Or was it?
Jon Wright's movie certainly did not tickle a funny bone in its early minutes when a young couple, Maya and Jamie (Hannah John-Kamen and Douglas Booth) are horrifically attacked by thugs in their London flat.
The terror is exacerbated because she has just discovered she is pregnant.
Anyway, they are able to escape to Ireland as he has been left a country cottage by a curmudgeonly aunt.
They are welcomed by the local publican (Niamh Cusack) with a dire warning to respect the old ways and leave bloody meat out every day for the 'little people'.
Actually, that makes them sound friendly but the legend of the Far darrig is that they kidnap or even eat babies.
Meanwhile, refurbishment work is being done to the property by a family of wrong 'uns led by Colm Meaney who weirdly insists on being called 'Daddy'.
Unwelcome is a strange mix - on one hand, a vicious, bullying gorefest and on the other so very odd that it could possibly be a spoof.
In its favour, it does have some original elements and yet it also leans on some old movie cliches.
For example, the couple's entrance to the local pub feels like a mockery of the Slaughtered Lamb sequence in American Werewolf in London.
Indeed, much of the tone of Unwelcome lends itself to that 80s classic.
However, after the initial build-up of tension, it felt too daft and shouty for me and its climax is just wacky..
Reasons to watch: Tense horror
Reasons to avoid: Tries to be funny but isn't
Laughs: One
Jumps: One
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 4.5/10
Did you know? The most famous mentions of these Far Darrig or red fairies come from W. B. Yeats’ Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry and Patrick Bardan’s The Dead-watchers, and Other Folk-lore Tales of Westmeath. Both were written at the end of the 19th century.
The final word. Jon Wright: "We delved into Irish folklore and myths and legends. We read a lot of fairy tales and a lot of those I'd read before when I was a kid. I revisited them all." Cineworld
Post a Comment