Shudder Saturday: Torment (2013)

If you go into Torment expecting something wildly exciting and tense, and maybe even twisty and turny, then you are going to end up quite disappointed. It's all put together well enough, but seems to constantly be about to deliver something it then swerves away from. It's not intense enough, it's not interesting enough, and it ends up not changing things up enough to distract from the obvious influences (numerous home invasion horrors).

Sarah (Katharine Isabelle) and Cory Morgan (Robin Dunne) are moving into their home, along with young Liam (Peter DaCunha). Unfortunately, other people view the home as their home. A whole other family unit, and they view the interlopers as prey to be toyed with. They've struck in this area before, and will do so again.

Directed competently by Jordan Barker, and with a script written by Michael Foster and Thomas Pound, Torment is essentially a flipped around version of something like The Strangers. The home invaders are already lying in wait, but the M.O. remains very similar, with sadistic torture and a strange need to integrate others into their small and select group. The way in which this is familiar to genre fans, yet also subtly different, is interesting. Unfortunately, like every interesting aspect of the movie, it's not developed into anything that rewards those wanting to give it more than a passing thought. Family relationships and tensions are given surface-level lip service, and there are a couple of unsurprising twists that will either make you roll your eyes or simply shrug.

At least the central casting helps to make everything a bit better. Isabelle has been a welcome presence in horror movies for many years, and once again ends up a highlight, while Dunne does just fine as the less interesting family member. DaCunha is small enough, and suitably imperiled, Stephen McHattie brings his particular brand of charm and charisma to a small supporting role, and Amy Forsyth does her best in a role that really should have allowed her to shine, but doesn't.

As you may have gathered from my distinctly middling response to everything, nothing here is actually bad. Some moments, some of the plot elements, are actually quite good. It's just a shame that nothing is given enough time and space to make it as interesting as it could be, whether it's the initial interactions between Isabelle, Dunne, and DaCunha, or the minor revelations that are teased out throughout most of the second half. If you're a fan of Isabelle then it's far from the worst thing she's done, but it would have benefited from giving her even more screentime.

5/10