[rating=8.00]
Among the difficulties of being a horror fan is dealing with the Horror Jade—consume enough of the genre, and normal tricks and tropes stop working. After a while, the feelings of terror that first draw you into that world begin to fade, and fear becomes a chased dragon. As with any addiction, the harder you chase the less you feel and you spiral into an unsatisfying cycle of trying and failing to recapture the feelings of your first time. It’s a frustrating search, but, every once in a while, you find that good shit.
Hounds of Love is certainly that. Even as a well jaded and calloused lover of horror, this sparse Australian film is, perhaps, the most uncomfortably horrific and viscerally terrifying film I’ve seen in years. It’s a gut punch of realism in an age of hyperbolic excess, mining the depths of real world fears to leave you sick with dread.
That’s no small feat for writer/director Ben Young, who makes his feature debut with Hounds of Love. Young manages to find the perfect balance of restraint and excess, using his considerable talents mainly to set the scene while letting your mind fill in the gaps—the worst of Hounds of Love takes place off screen, with the camera impatiently lingering on closed doors that conceal the nightmare taking place. The scariest part is that it’s a nightmare that has unfolded countless times in reality.
High school student Vicki (Ashleigh Cummings) is a typical mad at the world teen. Her parents have just divorced and her need to express her individuality has reached a boil. After sneaking out one night to go to a party, she accepts ride from a nice suburban couple, John and Evelyn (Stephen Curry and Emma Booth) and soon finds herself chained to a bed and kept behind locked doors. Now, in order to survive, she must try to find a way to put a wedge between the sadistic lovers holding her captive.
Hounds of Love is not a movie everyone should watch. There were times I found myself shifting uncomfortably in my seat, barely able to stomach the implications of what I was watching. This is a film that deals primarily with abuse. John manipulates Evelyn into going along with his sadistic desires, convincing her that kidnap and rape helps keep their relationship alive. Booth is perpetually shell shocked as she both tries to ignore and justify the screams from the room, eventually turning into participant herself, for the sake of a man she feels trapped by.
Combined, the couple becomes one of the more intense villains in recent horror history. John abuses Vicki with his sadistic desires while Evelyn’s jealousy leads to abuse of her own. They’re two edges of the same blade, each cutting Vicki in their own way. It’s heartbreaking to endure, especially considering the depth of Cummings performance—there are times where I’m not sure that the actress wasn’t actually terrified for her safety and life. Even with the worst moments taking place off camera, Hounds of Love offers plenty of disturbing imagery and gut wrenching moments that leave you haunted.
All of this is punctuated by Young’s perverse use of music. Hounds of Love’s most brutal moments are accompanied by classic pop songs. “Nights in White Satin,” for instance, has been forever changed; it will be hard to hear the song again without remembering screams of sheer terror. Hell, even its title is taken from song, and I’m not sure how Kate Bush feels about the new association of her classic.
Still, this is a rare horror where all the pieces fit neatly together. From script to performance to direction, Hounds of Love is a stunning cinematic debut for Young, who weaves an adroit, layered tale of evil and has created a new classic of psychological terror. As agonizing as it can be to see, it’s hard to look away from. It’s an all too real examination of true evil that crawls its way through your unconscious and plants itself straight into your nightmares.
Hounds of Love is now playing in select theaters and is available on VOD.
