Director: Paddy Breathnach
Writer: Pearse Elliott
Starring: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen, Alice Greczyn, Robert Hoffman
Running Time: 86 mins approx.
Rating: 18
On Release: 23rd November 2007
Synopsis
On the promise of tasting the best psychedelic mushrooms on the planet, a group of American teenagers travel to Ireland for the camping trip of a lifetime. But when one of their number takes a forbidden ‘shroom things start to go horribly wrong, and the bodies start to pile up. Is the group falling prey to a ghastly apparition that haunts the wood, or are they the victims of something much more down to earth, the strange figures glimpsed between the trees merely a drug-fuelled fantasy?
Review
Perhaps more so than any other genre of cinema, horror movies succumb very easily to trends. Every decade seems to have its own signature style, from the slasher/stalker movies of the 1970’s, to the body horror grotesque of the 1980’s, the post-modern teen slashers of the 1990’s and this decade’s obsession with J-Horror and extreme gore; and as long as it keeps selling, the chances for deviation are slim. Every so often, however, somebody tries something different; sometimes this works quite well — often developing into the next trend – and sometimes, well… sometimes it really doesn’t.
SHROOMS is one of those that doesn’t. It’s certainly an interesting premise, using the maguffin of a drugs trip to marry supernatural horror with a more traditional slasher flick, but the film’s scarcely ninety-minute running time doesn’t leave enough room for this to be explored in nearly enough detail, ironically forcing it into the classic cliché of establishing characters with a few light-hearted dialogue scenes, forcing them into conflict, then picking them off one by one – hardly an innovation. The short running time also means that any subtlety the script might have had is sacrificed in favour of moving the plot forward to its eyebrow-raising (albeit predictable) conclusion.
But it’s not all bad. The principle cast do a fair job, revelling in the character mystery afforded by their status as relative newcomers to keep the viewer guessing at least part of the way through. It’s here that the experience built up in genres like drama and comedy by the writer Pearse Elliot and director Paddy Breathnach* shines through, creating a believable ensemble and delivering some decent – if not entirely memorable – dialogue. The cinematography is also fairly impressive, with Breathnach’s love for his home country apparent in every frame; Ireland provides an organic and unfamiliar backdrop to the story, helping to increase the sense of unease as the tension builds. SHROOMS’ crowing achievement, however, is its “creatures” — especially the Black Brother, whose silent, spindle-legged creeping provides most of the movie’s genuinely frightening moments.
Overall SHROOMS represents an interesting, if not entirely successful, first step into horror for a director untested in the genre. Often amusing, occasionally chilling, it’s worth a look if you’re interested in something a little different – just don’t expect any great leaps.
Matt Dillon
*In case you’re wondering, it’s pronnounced “Brann-och” or “Brann-ark”, depending on which part of Ireland you’re from. Don’t say we never teach you nothin’…!
SHROOMS is on general release from Friday 23rd November. Head over to the official website for more gold top goodies or check out the official trailer using the links below (Quicktime required):