There's Something In The Barn (2023)

Although it's a far from perfect film, and it's hard to think of anyone who will love it (although I hope many others at least like it as much as I did), There's Something In The Barn may be best described as everything I wanted Unwelcome to be. In fact, the starting point is very similar, being all about a family moving to an inherited property after the death of a relative.

Martin Starr plays Bill Nordheim, married to Carol (Amrita Acharia). He is a father to Lucas (Townes Bunner) and Nora (Zoe Winther-Hansen), two teens who sometimes seem to act resentfully forwards their step-mother. That isn’t Carol’s fault though, and her life is made harder as she keeps being made to assume the role of disciplinarian within the household. Anyway, as the title suggests, when this family move into their new Norwegian home, there’s something in the barn. It’s a barn elf (played by Kiran Shah), a creature that doesn’t like bright lights, loud noise, or too many changes to his main environment. You can imagine his displeasure when the Nordheims decorate the barn for an ice-breaker party.

With a number of little creatures ready to cause havoc, the three main rules eventually broken, and the Christmas timing of the whole thing, it’s obvious what 1980s classic this is hoping to at least partially emulate. Surprisingly, there are a couple of moments in the third act that come close to really nailing just the right blend of anarchic violence and silliness that it is aiming for.

Although others were involved in different aspects of crafting the script, Aleksander Kirkwood Brown gets the main credit. He does a decent job, helped by the main cast all playing up to the comedy as the situation unfolding around them goes from bad to worse. Director Magnus Martens handles everything well, and happily takes the time and care to set up every plot point and gag that pays off in the finale. It’s a bit clumsy at times, and the film desperately needs more people available to be killed off by the barn-dwellers, but it has an energy, and an occasional earnestness when showing the interactions between Lucas and the barn elf, that helps keep viewers amused and entertained.

Starr may be slightly mis-cast, but it’s obvious why he was given a main role that feels just a step or two away from his more obviously comedic work. He’s fine, but the least of the central quartet. Acharia, on the other hand, is great, and she is allowed to take her character on a journey that feels the most satisfying out of anyone onscreen. Winther-Hansen is an enjoyable and typical teenage girl, and Bunner does particularly good work in the first half of the movie (when he’s akin to a certain young boy who found a certain creature in his own exterior structure in another classic ‘80s movie). Shah has fun as the main elf, and there are some fun supporting turns to show us other characters disbelieving the situation until seeing the madness with their own eyes (Henriette Steenstrup steals every scene she is in as a calm and unarmed local police officer).

Silly in the right ways, enjoyably full-on with the seasonal festivities, and balancing things nicely between frantic moments of tension and the lessons that our leads need to learn, There’s Something In The Barn is a fun addition to the ever-expanding selection of Christmas horror movies. It’s lighter fare than most, and I did wish for some more bloodshed and gore, but it makes it quite clear early on that the emphasis is on fun ahead of frights.

7/10

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