Damian McCarthy’s latest feature blends folklore and psychological horror in a tale of a writer’s rural retreat gone wrong.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
In “Hokum,” a troubled writer checks into a hotel where strange happenings, among them a ghost haunting particular rooms, torment him. Stop me when this begins to sound familiar. The most noteworthy thing about Irish horror auteur Damian McCarthy (“Oddity”), whose new film “Hokum” shares major plot points with Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” is how he takes familiar tropes and spins them into something you have never seen or felt before. Redrum.
“Hokum” begins not with scenes depicting the story’s main character, a misanthropic, notably Stephen King-like (or a writer character created by King-like) horror author named Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott of the brain-twisting streaming sensation “Severance”). The film begins with scenes featuring two characters about whom Bauman is clicking away on his laptop while sipping whiskey. The people we see are from his book series “The Conquistador Trilogy.” One of them is a conquistador (Austin Amelio) desperate to break a glass bottle in a desert full of soft sand. The other is a little boy (Ezra Carlisle), whose skull is the hardest thing to hand (oddly enough, this weird set-up is the film’s only weakness). For some reason, the conquistador speaks English, while the little boy speaks Spanish.
Bauman travels alone to a rural part of Ireland to deposit his parents’ ashes at a spot they visited on their honeymoon, a spot in an old photograph featuring his mother and a redwood tree. He checks into the Billbery Hills Hotel (Is this connected to the Irish holiday Bilberry Sunday? Yes, we’re in folk horror land). Bauman has a tense exchange with an unlikable man (Michael Patric) who has killed a goat with a crossbow (shades of McCarthy’s “Caveat”). The man works at the hotel. A Halloween party will be held that evening, with people in costumes, including a friendly, attractive hotel worker named Fiona (a remarkably charming Florence Ordesh). We hear a bit about a local witch and see someone’s depiction of her as a spooky little figurine. What could possibly be happening? Has Bauman seen 1973’s “The Wicker Man”? (I don’t acknowledge the ludicrous Nicolas Cage/Neil LaBute remake.)
In the nearby woods, Bauman meets heavily bearded Jerry (David Wilmot, “Hamnet”), a kind of rural homeless person, living out of an abandoned van and drinking a milky psychedelic concoction (not unlike this film). Jerry knows Fiona. We meet Mal (Peter Coonan), a creep who works the hotel desk, and Alby (Will O’Connell), the creepy, uniformed hotel bellboy. Alby is a fan of Bauman’s work and a would-be author himself. He asks if Bauman will look at a manuscript. Bauman unkindly refuses.
Scott’s annoying, raspy voice is a large part of Bauman’s memorable character. It’s like sandpaper in our ears, and it goes nicely with sarcasm and other forms of verbal abuse. Suddenly, Fiona goes missing, and the hotel is closing for the season (Sound familiar?). Bauman, who has mother issues, decides to search for Fiona, and he goes, of course, to the gated, locked and supposedly haunted honeymoon suite, where a witch is said to reside. We hear Fiona’s voice on Bauman’s misplaced voice recorder relating what happened to her after she went missing, another brilliant, demented twist. Redrum.
“Hokum” is dream-like and relentlessly dark, thanks to cinematography by “Darkman” (my nickname for him), Colm Hogan (“Oddity”). It is also an insanely spooky maze that combines real human tragedy and supernatural horror, appealing to fans of Zach Cregger’s surprise hit “Weapons,” especially in how it modernizes traditional horror elements. Someone reminds Bauman that a witch cannot enter a chalk circle (Is it true?). The plot will further involve an unexpected pregnancy, a diabolical dumbwaiter, a haunted basement, a book of Irish folktales and a gateway to hell.
Horror fans will be reminded at times of Italian maestro Mario Bava’s terrifying 1963 omnibus film “Black Sabbath.” Music by “Conjuring” and “Insidious” alumnus Joseph Bishara adds another head-rattling layer. Bauman carries a faulty lantern into multiple dark places that we absolutely do not want to enter. It is only one way in which “Hokum” embodies the essence of horror. I hope genre film buff Stephen King sees “Hokum.” It’s gonna scare the pants off the old geezer. Redrum.
‘Hokum’
Rating: R for some violent/disturbing content and language.
Cast: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, Florence Ordesh
Director/writer: Damian McCarthy
Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Where to Watch: In theaters
Grade: A-
Boston Movie News 