The Quiet Ones

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source: The Quiet Ones

I like my horror movies, to be more precise i like my supernatural horror movies. This unfortunately wasn't one of them. I had such high hopes for this movie, Good cast, trailer looked good, what could go wrong. Well, everything was there, except for a scare. I realised about a third into the movie i had a feeling, didn't know what it was, then it dawned on me, nothing had happened!, absolutely nothing. I continued to watch, with hopes of something happening and that is where the movie gets you, It lulls you into thinking the big reveal is just about to happen, and yet another small reveal happens along with a new bit of info to the mix. But sadly is like a cheap dinner, Smells and looks good, but leaves you wanting. Acting, i have to say, was meh!, the blonde! please! stereotype was almost tattooed on her forehead, along with the nutty professor and religiously shy hero. Sorry folks, this is not what it is tarted up to be!, it's a meh! rainy waste of a Sunday afternoon. Disappointing, disjointed, disinterested.

This movie is getting piled on with bad reviews, now all are entitled to there opinions, has am I. I surprisingly enjoyed it, I do not think it was great, but better than your usually horror films, but I don't watch that many. It really captured the look of the 70's in which the film is set in. And the moments where everything grows silent, like you don't know what is creeping up on you is very well done. Sam Clafin and Jared Harris are pretty good in there roles, so was Olivia Cooke. It does have some good scares, and some good effects. Now I think that this film is based on real events but only loosely, if you see the real people that the actors are playing. I feel it is more than a horror, it's a tragedy.

I went to see this hoping this would be maybe a bit of "paranormal activity"/"insidious". It really isn't. First of all the acting is very lack lustre and there is hardly any character development so you feel nothing towards the characters. Most of the scenes seemed to focus on the main drippy boy character trying to get in the pants of the troubled haunted girl and the arrogant professor who is evidently sleeping with the so called pretty girl in the film. The only time anything remotely frightening happened was right at the end of the film, in the last 20 mins or so. Even then is was just stuff being thrown about, some characters die very quickly and then its all over, just barely lasted long enough for me to open my eyes. I wont compare it to any other film because I think it would give them a very bad reputation. Do not waste your time or money on this.

The quiet ones is more of a psychology thriller movie. It started off quite strong, it kept me guessing and intrigued, but as time goes, i realised the plot didn't really go anywhere, it's confusing and not in the good way. The speeches started to feel too long and the plot is getting more and more boring. The tension started to build again when Brian got all the information about Evey and there was some real potential of the movie to turn out okay, but it didn't, it didn't turn anywhere. I am disappointed because i was excited to come in and see this movie. I give it a 2 for being boring and having so many plot holes. But honestly, the movie isn't too bad, it is clever and it had potential, the actors weren't good but they weren't awful either.

Cameraman Brian is engaged to document the work of Professor Coupland towards helping Jane: although it is suggested that she is possessed, the Professor believes that the poltergeist-like phenomena which accompany her are actually rooted in her psyche rather than some external agency. Following the success of The Woman In Black (a film about which I have mixed feelings), the revitalised Hammer Studios produce a possession / supernatural / psychological / partial found footage hybrid which purports to have been based on a true story, even to the point of including shots of the "real" people in the closing credits (good luck if you try tracking down the "true" story). It's not bad. It's not scary, although it is peppered with "made you jump" moments. But it has a good sense of atmosphere, and it is quite an entertaining story, and is a little different from other entries in the genre. I was sitting in front of a couple and, as it finished, he said "I thought that was quite good," and she said, "I thought it was sh!t." I think most people are going to either quite like it or be disappointed by it.

If there's one thing that can be said about "The Quiet Ones," it's that the movie is definitely an extension of Hammer's classic films of the 1960s. Not content to just throw out some monster scares, they delve into the Satanic cult themes of classics like "The Devil Rides Out," "To the Devil a Daughter," and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula." Although not perfect by any means and a bit confusing in plot if you're not paying close enough attention, the famous production company delivers a creepy new entry to add to their rich cinematic history. Much like Hammer's early works, "The Quiet Ones" is a Gothic period piece. However, instead of it taking place in the eerie 1800s or early 1900s, it takes place in the 1970s in a secluded and mysterious mansion. A University professor (Jared Harris) leads a group of students in an experiment to help an emotionally disturbed young woman. Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke) believes she is followed by a sinister spirit who manifests itself through violent outbursts. Is something supernatural occurring or is Jane somehow willing herself to harm others and wreak havoc wherever she goes? "The Quiet Ones" is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, sexual content, thematic material, language, and smoking throughout. There are also a couple scenes of brief nudity of the male and female persuasion. The brief nudity was so quick it could have been completely cut out in editing. It might not be the greatest example of a modern Hammer horror film, but "The Quiet Ones" does successfully carry the torch passed on by so many great genre classics of the past many grew up watching. It has all the ingredients you'd expect from the English House of Horror, though they might not follow the recipe as closely as you'd hope. Chillingly convincing performances from Olivia Cooke and Jared Harris more than make up for any narrative muddiness viewers might find themselves wading through.

Painfully dull horror set in the 70s that should've been called The Boring Ones. Yet another girl-in-a-white-nightdress-is-possessed snorefest. Far too talky and takes ages to get going. By the time something does happen it's too little too late and predictable. May scare some children and easily frightened wimpy adults but nobody else. Some unintentional laughs via the hilarious number of different 70s clothes the blonde hottie wears. Her skimpy hotpants are probably the best thing in this film and stopped me from leaving the cinema early. A disappointment from the newly relaunched Hammer Films and not a patch on the far scarier The Woman in Black.

The long-overdue and long-awaited revival of the legendary Hammer Studios has been one with very mixed successes thus far. "Let Me In" and "Wake Wood" were more than adequate and compelling fright stories, while "The Woman in Black" and – especially – "The Resident" were mediocre and even barely endurable efforts. "The Quiet Ones", their latest effort, sadly also leans more towards disappointment than satisfaction. I was extremely careful with my expectations towards this film because, in spite of several promising elements, it remains a clichéd and derivative synopsis. The film luckily isn't one of them dreadful "fount-footage" horror flicks, but it's nevertheless a variation on it. The film luckily also isn't a childish ghost-movie, but it's nevertheless a variation on it. "The Quiet Ones" is a potpourri of all this and more, and allegedly it's inspired by true events, so experienced genre fans already know they ought to be skeptical. The best thing about the whole film is probably Jared Harris' intriguing performance as the slightly unorthodox and obsessive Oxford University professor Coupland. He has a controversial theory that evil spirits don't just randomly possess innocent victims, but rather that emotionally weak and vulnerable persons create the poltergeists themselves through manifestations in their traumatized minds. He sets up an experiment to prove this, recruits a couple of students to assist him and even manipulates the young and mentally unstable Jane Harper to participate as the guinea pig. When the Oxford board of directors decides not to fund and support his experiment any longer, the group nonetheless carries forward their work in a secluded old countryside mansion. Suffice to say the experiment quickly goes awry, as Jane's poltergeist alter ego – named Evey – doesn't allow the professor to be researched and/or controlled. It's painfully clear and obvious almost straight from the beginning that director John Pogue doesn't have the power or the courage to insert any raw, shocking or even remotely horrific imagery. "The Quiet Ones" is, once again, a thriller that fully relies on false scares and sudden jump moments that lead absolutely nowhere. This could have worked reasonably efficient if the overall atmosphere is unsettling throughout and if the viewer could identify with the lead characters, but that's not the case either. Coupland's students are uninteresting and colorless personalities and Jane's character remains bland and underdeveloped. The locations, scenery and 70's time frame aren't used optimally and – worst of all - there's a nearly unacceptable shortage of action. The few séance sequences are dull and pointless and the poltergeist only demonstrates its genuinely evil nature at the very end of the film. Positive aspects include, as said, Jared Harris' arrogant performance and the fact I repeatedly heard that good old rock classic "Come on feel the noise" by a band named Quiet Riot.