I think everyone needs to take a minute to appreciate the very exciting fact that we are living in a time when Hammer Films are back up and running and making horror movies. However, since their rebirth in 2007 their output hasn’t exactly set the horror world on fire with uninspiring output like The Resident and Beyond the Rave. In fact their biggest hits have been the completely pointless remake of Let the Right One In and the somewhat disappointing Woman in Black.
But even those movies can be seen as noble failures as Hammer strived to recreate what it was known for in its heyday: horror movies that rely on atmosphere and well-crafted stories rather than loud noises and excessive gore. And for any other horror fans that, like me, have had their love of the genre severely tested by endless and soulless cookie-cutter Saw, Paranormal Activity or Insidious sequels the sight of the Hammer logo as a film begins is kind of thrilling.
So The Quiet Ones starts off with a lot of goodwill from its target audience and manages to sustain it with its authentic and atmospheric 1970s setting. Anyone expecting American Hustle style explosions of hairspray and disco will be disappointed though, despite the fact that its director is American, the film presents a staunchly British recreation of 1974 it’s all corduroy and cardigans and Slade on the radio and people smoking while playing football. All this, combined with the suitably grainy picture and sound of the found footage segments add to a credible atmosphere that managed to make me nostalgic for a time ten years before I was born.
Unfortunately, the plot isn’t quite as solid as the setting. We’re introduced to Professor Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris, looking and sounding eerily like his late great dad) and his students Krissi (Erin Richards) and Harry (Rory Fleck-Byrne). They’re conducting a series of morally questionable experiments on disturbed teenager Jane (Olivia Cooke) and hire thoughtful cameraman Brian (Sam Clafin) to document their efforts as they move their tests to an isolated country house.
The film’s characters differ in opinion when it comes to the supernatural but instead of going the usual route of dividing its players into the rational and irrational, The Quiet Ones defines them as irrational and very irrational because Professor Coupland believes that Jane’s mental illness is manifesting itself in telekinetic powers but everyone else comes to believe she’s genuinely possessed by some evil force.
So the story lacks a relatable “voice of reason which means when it all descends into paranormal lunacy it’s hard to know who we’re meant to identify with. The obvious candidate would be Clafin’s introspective documentarian but this is complicated by the fact that he falls in love with Jane. Olivia Cooke was in her late teens when she played the part in 2012 but she looks and acts a lot younger making their doomed romance come across creepier than it’s supposed to. I guess it does kind of add to the authentic 70s setting though.
Apart from its confused characters the biggest problem The Quiet Ones has is that it feels more like a series of individual scenes rather than a complete film. Although most of the film is traditionally shot a good deal of it is grainy “found footage. Each of the experiments performed on Jane is filmed by Brian on his charmingly antiquated 70s film equipment. We’re therefore treated to a number of little first person vignettes where spooky things transpire to various levels of effectiveness. Some of these clips are genuinely creepy; a lot of them are not. And it’s really disappointing but sadly inevitable when the unconvincing CG effects turn up.
It’s a very frustrating watch as the film spins its wheels and stops and starts but never manages to get going until the final act which manages to effectively build to a genuinely suspenseful and chilling climax. Sitting through The Quiet Ones doesn’t feel like a complete waste of time but for if you’re looking for Hammer to deliver their trademark brand of spooky storytelling it’s an unsatisfactory experience.
Overall Verdict: A very authentic and atmospheric setting and a handful of effectively creepy scenes can’t quite make up for a plot that never manages to find its feet.
Special Features:
Audio commentary with director/co-writer John Pogue and producer Tobin Armbrust
Welcome to the Experiment: Making The Quiet Ones
Manifesting Evil: Visual Effects
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Reviewer: Adam Pidgeon