This movie was written and directed by Damian McCarthy in his filmmaking debut. I want to start this by saying I commend anyone for that achievement. He got his vision made and out there for the world to see.

The setup for this movie is a bit problematic for me. A man hires someone (Isaac) to watch over his niece for a weekend at $200 a day (or that amount in the relevant monetary unit of the location.) After agreeing to do it, they travel to a lake where they have to take a boat to the small island the house is on. Right away this is a red flag. But he carries on anyway. Once they get inside he is introduced to the girl, Olga. Who is in her twenties and hiding behind her hands. Another bit of a red flag. But the unexplainable, insurmountable red flag is still to come. The man produces a vest tethered to a chain and tells Isaac he has to wear this for the weekend because Olga is petrified of someone entering her room while she sleeps.

This is the jumping the shark moment for me. You couldn’t pay me $200 a day to be chained up like that in an unknown place. You would need a few more zeroes behind that to get me to agree. And even then I’d be hesitant.

This is a very slow burn type of horror movie. And I love that sort of thing. But there are too many “huh?” moments for me. Like when Isaac is trapped in a room with a locked door. You lock me in a room with an interior door, I’m just gonna kick that thing down. Or when he is in a space using a drywall knife to cut a hole big enough to escape. It’s drywall. Easy to break. Also kinda fun to break. If you are trying to escape, why be delicate? He could have knocked that down in 5 seconds.

Ok. So those are some of my frustrations with this movie. What I enjoyed about it. The super creepy paper mache looking bunny toy that plays a drum. But it isn’t like a wind up thing. It appears to have some supernatural ability. Like it is a supernatural dowsing rod and beats the drum when something is near. And even sorta communicates. I want to see a movie about this bunny and his origin. And then there’s Olga. Who frequently has bloody noses. Potentially related to supernatural occurrences as well. What’s her story?

Damian did a great job making this creepy and unsettling. I just felt the setup was too tough to accept. An easy fix for that would have been…. Isaac agrees to the job, but when he gets there the man knocks him out and Isaac wakes up in the vest and chain… Boom. Now one major issue is sorted out.

I very much look forward to the next outing by this director. I’m giving this a 7 (6 based on the overall story and 8 on the overall feel.)