Harpoon (2019)

Written and directed by Rob Grant, Harpoon is the kind of black comedy thriller best described as enjoyably vicious. It takes three people, throws them together in a small environment, and starts to allow them to twist the knife into one another. And twist. And twist.

It all starts with Jonah (Munro Chambers) packing up things after the death of his parents. He is visited by his friend, Richard (Christopher Gray). Richard punches Munro in the face because he believes that Munro has been cheating with Richard's girlfriend, Sasha (Emily Tyra). Once that misunderstanding has been cleared up, the three head off on Richard's yacht for a day trip. Tension is still there, as well as a spear gun that is a birthday surprise for Richard.

Framed by the words of an unreliable narrator (Brett Gelman), Harpoon moves deftly between the very funny and the very painful. The truth can often hurt, but so can a swift kick to the balls. The latter will also happen to make viewers laugh. The three central characters show themselves, at various points, to be people who aren't really very nice, which makes their pain ultimately more satisfying, and also more expected as momentum starts to build towards the finale.

The praise must all go to Grant for his script (with some input from Mike Kovac). He's managed to take a simple three-hander of a tale, add some more humour and uncertainty with the help of that sharp narration, and somehow keep things both blindingly obvious and yet entertainingly serpentine at the same time. Everything is there from the very beginning, in many ways, as you are shown the characters, their actions, and main relationship dynamics.

It helps that the main cast all do very well in their roles. Gray is, of course, the one we take an immediate dislike to, being the rich kid who comes onscreen and punches his friend in the opening sequence. Chambers is enjoyably mistreated by Gray, the two of them perfectly illustrating an unlikely, and unhealthy, friendship, and Tyra is a perfect third point in what is set out as an obviously problematic triangle.

Although not as simplistically entertaining as Mon Ami (a 2012 film from Grant, featuring Kovac in a lead role), Harpoon is a similar tale of snowballing events leading up to a finale that looks set to be pretty bad news for everyone involved. It's still just a little bit too slight, and not quite as sharp as it could be, but you can certainly see the growth in Grant as a film-maker, and good to see him recently getting some more praise and attention from genre fans.

7/10

You can buy the movie here.

Reykjavic Whale Watching Massacre AKA Harpoon (2009)

This movie has the dubious honour of being Iceland’s first “splatter” film, according to the initial promotional campaign, but is it actually any good? Yes it is.

The plot sees a bunch of people (a real mix of nationalities and character types) going on a boat to do some whale watching. After a little bit of attempted rape and hostility between those on board, an accident sees them left out in the middle of the sea, quite helpless. Thankfully, help does arrive. And by help I mean that someone takes the group from their boat to another boat, where torture and death are the main catch of the day.

Like many films of this nature, Reykjavic Whale Watching Massacre (also known as Harpoon) gets by more on the strength of it’s thrills and bloodletting than any major plot twists or character moments.

The cast – particularly Pihla Vitala and Nae – all do pretty well but we know that people are just being set up to be potential victims. We are shown enough to make them more than just background characters but not enough to traumatise us if/when they are messily killed off.

Júlíus Kemp does well in the director’s chair, keeping the pace notched up a gear (the film clocks in at just under 90 minutes) and showing some moments of nastiness without going well into the realm of the excessive. It has a nice balance to it that should keep horror fans well pleased.

Writer Sjón Sigurdsson does a good job of making everyone involved an individual and providing some entertaining twists and turns. There’s a very enjoyable “fake-out” near the start of the movie and the development of one particular character is so rewarding that it makes up for the loss of anyone else you may have favoured. Not everything works – the Frenchman is far too annoying to care for and some people are far too selfish though I realise that they’re also terrified at the same time – but most of it is certainly good enough to stop you from picking apart the plotholes while the cast try to escape their perilous fate.

With an appearance by Gunnar Hansen and a couple of moments during the end sequence that bring to mind a number of classic horror movies, Reykjavic Whale Watching Massacre manages to both trawl it’s own patch and also follow in the wake of others. A job well done.

7/10.

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