I watched this movie for Toby Stephens, in an aftermath of my fascination with his Rochester in 2006 BBC "Jane Eyre". I had not expected a great movie, especially after reading two out of the three comments on IMDb, as well as the synopsis on the DVD. Frankly, the latter made me believe that this movie is a cheap Irish remake of "Pet Semetary", which is far from my favourite stories, even though I like the genre. However, if someone expects just a chiller or thriller, let alone horror movie, from "Sunset Heights", they will be disappointed. There are such elements, all right, but SPOILER they are misleading, to say the least.END SPOILER
This movie is far from being a masterpiece, but I awarded it 8 stars because it comes from a provincial film industry, and is certainly much better than many recent movies from more celebrated European film industries. What it lacks most is pace and it might profit from better script writing, but the latter is not very bad, after all. The storyline is consistent, and the continued voice-over is well justified in the end; moreover, all elements suggested at the beginning of the movie do play a role in the development of the story (all 'Chekhov's rifles' fire). There are even two quite well invented twists in the story, one of them SPOILER pertaining to the genre itself, the other to the storyline END SPOILER.
The acting from the largely unknown Irish cast is acceptable and at times even surprisingly more than that. Jim Norton as The Preacher is truly captivating, and the only star, Mr. Stephens gives a fine performance with nuanced moods and overall quietness, even in the most dramatic scenes, which plays off very well.
All in all this movie came to me as a truly nice surprise, as it turned out to be focused on human tragedy rather than the thriller plot.
This movie is far from being a masterpiece, but I awarded it 8 stars because it comes from a provincial film industry, and is certainly much better than many recent movies from more celebrated European film industries. What it lacks most is pace and it might profit from better script writing, but the latter is not very bad, after all. The storyline is consistent, and the continued voice-over is well justified in the end; moreover, all elements suggested at the beginning of the movie do play a role in the development of the story (all 'Chekhov's rifles' fire). There are even two quite well invented twists in the story, one of them SPOILER pertaining to the genre itself, the other to the storyline END SPOILER.
The acting from the largely unknown Irish cast is acceptable and at times even surprisingly more than that. Jim Norton as The Preacher is truly captivating, and the only star, Mr. Stephens gives a fine performance with nuanced moods and overall quietness, even in the most dramatic scenes, which plays off very well.
All in all this movie came to me as a truly nice surprise, as it turned out to be focused on human tragedy rather than the thriller plot.