DOUBLE DATE

RELEASED 13 OCTOBER 15 | 89 minutes

Director benjamin barfoot Cast danny morgan, michael socha, Kelly Wenham

Bringing to mind everything from the James Corden dud Lesbian Vampire Killers to Danny Dyer-starrer Severance, the phrase “British horror-comedy” is enough to make you run screaming. But Double Date is different. Scripted by and starring Danny Morgan (On The Road), the emphasis is more on comedy. Think The 40-Year-Old Virgin meets Fatal Attraction, and you’re somewhere near this nightmare date-movie.

Morgan’s Jim is the perennial loser when it comes to women, still a virgin on the eve of his 30th birthday. But when he and cocky friend Alex (Michael Socha) bar-hop to meet two sisters – Lulu (Georgia Groome) and Kitty (Kelly Wenham) – they think they’re in for a night of passion. Debut director Benjamin Barfoot doesn’t play any games here: the audience are fully aware that these siblings (particularly Kitty) have a psychotic streak, right from the off.

Quite why these girls are on the rampage only becomes clear in the finale, with Kitty harbouring the ultimate daddy issues. The horror is the film’s least successful element, but energetic performances – particularly from Socha and Wenham – overcome it. Off-the-wall comedy (not least when Jim takes Lulu to his parents’) and a genuinely thrilling fight scene leave this feeling minty fresh. James Mottram