HOKUM
****
Directed by Damian McCarthy.
Starring Adam Scott, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Peter Coonan.
Horror, US & Ireland, 101 Minutes, Certificate 15.
Released in Cinemas in the UK on May 1st by Black Bear Pictures
Over the course of three films, writer and director Damian McCarthy has quietly built a reputation for delivering off-kilter stories in a fashion that has increased in terror with each film. Real horror fans will have no doubt recognised this straight away with his low budget debut CAVEAT since its UK debut back in 2020 at that year's Halloween FrightFest before finding a home on Shudder. Although low in budget, this was an expertly realised exercise in unnerving imagery, backed up with nail biting tension, a twist filled storyline and the freakiest toy rabbit ever. These same skills became even more apparent with ODDITY, his ghost story/murder mystery that doubled down on the twist filled narrative and even more tension. While released only briefly in a handful of cinemas before finding itself on the aforementioned horror streamer, it was near universally acclaimed garnering McCarthy even more fans. Now with this third film, backed with Hollywood money and a starring turn from a recognisable face in Adam Scott, mainstream audiences can join the rest of us to finally experience his unique brand of horror on a cinema screen.
Those expecting a straight ahead ghost story may find themselves wrong-footed in an enticing way with the film's opening scene of a conquistador and a small boy dragging themselves through the desert in search of a mysterious object. How this ties into the main plot of a possibly haunted Irish hotel is expertly realised over the next swiftly paced one hundred minutes. Scott plays celebrated author Ohm Bauman, depressed and struggling to come up with a satisfying ending to a much acclaimed trilogy that has won him fans over the world. It soon becomes apparent that Bauman’s depression, and hostile attitude to nearly everyone he encounters, goes back further and deeper than just creative difficulties. Guilt and sadness seep through him and drive him to visit the remote Bilberry Woods hotel in Ireland where his now deceased parents honeymooned. This is the set-up and to say anymore would rob you the viewer of an immensely satisfying and unpredictable storyline that takes in murder, witches, hermits and a downright terrifying figure with large unblinking eyes and floppy ears that further enforces McCarthy’s own problems with rabbits.
By the closing of the film's first act, a number of intriguing plot lines are already laid out only to be swept away for something even more enticing. The storyline zigs and zags in a thrillingly unpredictable manner that is gripping and always concise, displaying McCarthy’s skill as a scriptwriter. Every character is expertly realised, and portrayed here, whether it is David WIlmot’s forest dwelling, magic mushroom addled Jerry, Florence Ordesh’s kindly yet no-nonsense bartender or the eager to please bellboy Alby played by Will O’ Connell. Even more characters can be found in this hotel that is rumoured to be haunted by a malevolent witch, while the staff would prefer you don’t ask at all about the Honeymoon Suite that seems to have disappeared. Standing out above them all though is Adam Scott. Fans of the likes of PARKS AND RECREATION and SEVERANCE, two very different shows, already know how adeptly he can handle both comedy and drama so it is great to see him use both skill sets so effectively here in this unlikable character who somehow still proves himself to be a sympathetic protagonist.
Maybe it is when you see the various torments that McCarthy dreams up and subjects Ohm to that make him such an appealing hero. The long dark night of the soul that he unwittingly embarks upon is one of the scariest and tense times you will experience in a cinema this year. Where ODDITY doubled down on the already considerable tension that was so prevalent in CAVEAT, McCarthy somehow repeats the trick again by multiplying the tension with short, sharp frights and longer drawn out dread filled setpieces that make him one of the most exciting directors in the field right now. Jaded horror fans tired of the quiet, quiet, BANG formula of screen scares will delight in the way that McCarthy takes familiar feeling set-ups and twists them into something new and fresh here.
In a year that has seen new horrors released on a near weekly basis with varying results of quality, HOKUM more than delivers against the meaning of its title by delivering the scariest and most entertaining horror film so far this year. That it delivers on the already considerable promise of its writer and director's skills in manipulating his story and the audience is more than enough reason to see it. That it also proves itself to be one of the more terrifying films in some time with its expertly realised visual flair, smart shocks and expertly realised characters you care about makes it all the more satisfying. It also makes you more excited for whatever McCarthy has planned next.
Iain MacLeod