Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1050749
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 NOVEMBER 2018 FILM FILM IT is a truth universally ac- knowledged that a streaming service at Halloween time will need a steady supply of hor- ror cinema to furnish its front- facing options, and Netflix is certainly no exception, being a leader in the field with a firm finger on the pulse of what's popular (for the most part, any- way). But one could even go a step further, and observe that horror will always have a keen audience waiting in the wings; one that will lap up examples of the genre no matter their inher- ent quality – just as long as they get their fix. And while Icelandic director Olaf de Fleur's first major foray into English language cinema, Malevolent, is certainly cookie- cutter enough to qualify as yet more grist for the mill for an unquestioning hoarde of horror hungry fans (count me as a card- carrying member, incidentally), it's certainly also an entertaining genre diversion, made-to-fit for and by Netflix. Bold, stylish type informs us that we're in 1986 Glasgow, where two siblings – Jackson (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) and Angela (Florence Pugh) – are joined by Jackson's girlfriend Beth (Geor- gina Bevan) and lovesick hang- er-on Elliot (Scott Chambers) as they roam the city pretending to be paranormal investigators. Their cynical schtick – initiated by Jackson in a bid to get some money to pay off mob debts – is mostly about liberating houses from the supposed presence of the recent family dead. But when they accept a commis- sion from Mrs Green (Celia Im- rie) – an elderly woman whose stately mansion was once the playground of a brutal tragedy – the con suddenly becomes a lot more real, just as Angela feared it would... De Fleur's film certainly pos- sesses no grand ambitions but, thankfully, neither is it ham- pered by a kitschy over-reli- ance on jump scares and other horror-gloss that tends to be evident in the American main- stream. Instead, it feels like an adequate slice of simple-but- effective fare that fits the Netf- lix model like a glove: make 'em good but churn them out, and give the genre-loving audience what they want. Good photog- raphy and a well-rounded young cast ensure that the experience is immersive enough for the audience to come along for the scares. And while we may not be in the jump-out-of-your-skin territory of something like 'Rec', the blend of omnicient camera and found footage is strategi- cally deployed, really rounding out the haunted house feel. In the end, the conflict whit- tles down to two women – com- mon enough for horror, and here we've got a blend of ghost story that kind of devolves into slasher territory by the third act. That's when the film gets to flex its muscles just a little bit, be- cause it's Pugh and Imrie who elevate the experience ever so slightly above the disposable, working with an earnest ap- proach and finding the genu- ine emotional undercurrents in what would otherwise have been by-the-numbers family gothic. While De Fleur's film is unlikely to unseat The Haunt- ing of Hill House as the current spectral horror talking point du jour, it offers a lower-budget and servicable-enough take on that particular sub-genre and, in short, a good enough time if you're into that sort of thing. A group of scamming ghost- hunters get their just desserts – and a shot at redemption – after an elderly woman commissions them to silence a group of spectral screaming girls... EXCELLENT BENEVOLENT RESONANT MALEVOLENT IRRELEVANT M A LE VO LE N T ( 16 + ) Teodor Reljic ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The verdict Hardly original and oper- ating largely on established tropes, Malevolent still offers a good ninety minutes well spent in front of the Netflix- box as the embers of Hal- loween continue to glow into the autumn months. Making the best out of a restricted setting and boasting perfor- mances that punch above the material – Florence Pugh and Celia Imrie both bring their A-game despite working off a largely generic script – De Fleur's chiller is a workable blend of family drama and spectral horror. It runs in the family Shine a light Florence Pugh in the Netflix Original horror film Malevolent