Double the trouble but these twins fail to terrify
The Lodgers (15A) Verdict: Taut but not very scary ★★★★☆☆
IRELAND’S Big Houses have always had something of the gothic and macabre about them. A derelict one, doubly so. Add in two 19-year-old creepy twins, one who is prone to asking if they can have a bath together, and in theory you should have a real shriek-show on your hands.
It’s here, in this crumbling, freezing mansion (Loftus Hall in Wexford, to be precise) that Brian O’Malley’s follow-up to the well-received Let Us Prey unfolds. Sister and brother Rachel (Charlotte Vega) and Edward (Bill Milner) live together in War of Independence-era Ireland, bound into the house by the grim presence
of The Lodgers and their three rules: they must be in bed by midnight, they may not permit an outsider over the threshold, and they must always stay together. Breaking of these rules will only enrage those of previous generations of the twin’s family, who died by suicide in the estate’s lake.
In the nearby village, Sean (Eugene Simon) returns from war and is instantly smitten with the beguiling Rachel, a turn of events that goes
down well with neither Edward nor The Lodgers.
There’s no doubting this is a very stylish, atmospheric movie.
A lot of elements knit together — a taut and tantalising premise, the impressive production design, Vega as the film’s emotional centre and Milner as the fantastically creepy, anaemic Edward. Moe Dunford too, rogueish as the local bully-boy, offers some brilliant texture.
And yet, something is amiss. The script has been written by David Turpin, also known as a nuanced and playful musician (he co-writes the music for the film, too). There’s no doubting Turpin has a fine way with words, and there are some delicious lines in his script. Alas, some of that playfulness would have been a welcome addition to the mix, as The Lodgers occasionally threatens to become a victim of its own overwrought stylishness.
In fact, often it has more in common with a languid, fine-boned period drama than a horror/thriller. The gore quotient is low, the shriek count minimal, the camera far too still and lingering to ever really quicken the heart.
The film’s ending offers some emotional gravitas but it’s very much a case of too little, too late.