Shudder Saturday: Hounds Of Love (2016)

Written and directed by Ben Young, making his feature debut, Hounds Of Love isn't the kind of film that seems to give you much to comment on, or discuss. Everything is delivered clearly enough, and in an unflinching, but not gratuitous, manner. Yet the psychology of the main characters, as unpalatable as it may be to explore, is more complex than the plot details might suggest.

Ashleigh Cummings plays a schoolgirl named Vicki Maloney. She's adjusting to the fact that her parents are now separated, which puts her at odds with her mother (Susie Porter). After a big argument, Vicki sneaks out of her room and heads off for a night out. She ends up being picked up by Evelyn (Emma Booth) and John (Stephen Curry), two degenerates who pretend to be friendly while actually plotting to render her unable to defend herself once she is in their home, where she can be kept captive and tortured.

If you want films featuring unsavoury characters that will make you tense while also often making you feel as if you need to give yourself a good scrub down afterwards then Australia should be your first port of all. I could reel off a list of films to illustrate this point (from Chopper to Animal Kingdom, to Cut Snake and, probably the closest to this in terms of grim atmosphere, The Snowtown Murders AKA Snowtown). Hounds Of Love is another fine offering, although it's also one that I can't see many people rushing to rewatch. It's just such a tough experience.

There are two things that this film does very well. First of all, the technical side shows a confidence and canny knack for judging things perfectly that you wouldn't necessarily expect from someone making their feature debut. While the film features violence, sexual abuse, and nudity, it never ever throws all of those things together in any one scene to make it seem exploitative. This is a harrowing story being told, it's not a slice of shockerama to be viewed as a challenge for horror fans (as some others might be, not that I am going to namecheck them here).

Second, the acting is perfect from all involved. There are no overwrought histrionics here, which isn't to say that the characters never get loud and emotional (because they do), and no moustache-twirling moments for the villains. They are evil people, that's clear from the very beginning, but it doesn't have to be shown in an exaggerated way because their despicable behaviour means that even the more mundane moments feel awful because the mundanity is just part of their day in between moments that allow them to get their kicks. Cummings has to do all the thrashing and screaming, which looks like it would have been incredibly draining, but Booth and Curry play their parts with a mix of chillingly quiet menace and explosive anger. Cummings may be the latest prey for them but she's also the latest accelerant on a strange relationship that has been burning too hot for some time now. Porter, Damian de Montemas (as the father of Vicki), and Harrison Gilbertson (Vicki's boyfriend) also do well, and Fletcher Humphrys makes a strong impression in his small role, playing a hard man owed some money by John.

There's a lot more that can be said here: praise for how Young gives backstory to almost all of the main characters without using it to justify any of their actions or manipulate viewers. the framing and shot choice that underlines the violence without gloating over it, the fact that these people are pretty much hiding in plain sight and how they can get away with that in their neighbourhood, and more. It may not be entirely new ground that we're being taken through, but it's got a lot of interesting details tucked away behind the same old doors and walls.

8/10

Here's the film on shiny disc.
Americans can pick it up here.