KEEPER
****
Directed by Osgood Perkins.
Starring Tatiana Maslany, Rossif Sutherland. Kett Turton.
Horror, US, 99 Minutes, Certificate 15.
Released in Cinemas in the UK on 14th November by Black Bear Pictures Limited
It feels like an impressive feat these days to release a movie in the cinema from an established director and have next to no idea what it is about. After a publicity campaign that puzzled and enticed with its spooky imagery of Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland looking troubled while an unsettling old-timey soundtrack blared through the trailer, all we could really guess was that Osgood Perkins was back on super-serious, scary territory after his madcap gore filled take on Stephen King’s THE MONKEY. In the interest of surprise, rest assured that this review will remain as spoiler-free as possible, so you can uncover the unsettling mystery at the heart of this slow-burn story filled with disturbing secrets and a handful of uniquely, unsettling visuals to send you off into the night.
It starts with a montage of women, seemingly scattered across a number of locations far and wide and a vast amount of years between them all. Love Is Strange by Mickey And Sylvia plays on the soundtrack, with the slight distortion it has always carried slotting alongside these somewhat troubling visuals of these seemingly random figures staring straight out of the screen directly at us. From here we move straight to the present day where we meet Liz and Malcom, an artist and a doctor stretching their romantic relationship out to their first trip away together to a cabin in the woods. Miles from the city, with no blinds on the windows or locks on the doors, Liz starts to feel uneasy, isolated and exposed, all the while wondering if something in the forest, or closer to home, is starting to unfold its malevolent design upon her.
After courting the multiplex crowd with LONGLEGS and THE MONKEY, Perkins returns to the slow burn style of his earlier films here. Even after an initial viewing there is still much to mull over and figure out. Perkins, working from a script by Nick Lepard, writer of this year's DANGEROUS ANIMALS, delivers a film that carries the occult stylings of his previous works whilst also dipping into folk horror. It is a mixture that works out well, especially when delivered through the relationship drama that provides the frame for all of the unnerving and sometimes surreal madness that flows throughout the film.
Returning to collaborate with Perkins after THE MONKEY, Tatiana Maslany delivers a performance of a character who carries more weight than the usual woman in peril role. Liz is a complex, sometimes spiky character which makes her more relatable, and interesting, as a result. As Malcom, Rossif Sutherland, is harder to figure out, keeping the audience on edge and stringing them along until the surprises start dropping in fine, unsettling style.
Taking its time, KEEPER still manages to keep the attention with its arresting visual style that is both nightmarish and trippy. While a one location film, the story takes its audience on an unexpected journey through time to a wicked punchline of a final shot. On the way there however, we are treated to some spectacularly original and bizarre imagery that sears itself onto your eyeballs. Whether it is the subtle menaces creeping into the frame in the background or the surreal in your face horrors that surface after, KEEPER contains enough shocks and disturbing visuals that will refuse to leave your mind. Unique in its creepiness, this can be counted as one of the most original horror films of the year.
Iain MacLeod