The Quiet Ones is
a new British horror movie from the makers of The Woman in Black. Produced by the classic crafters of horror,
Hammer Productions, the film follows an Oxford professor (Jared Harris), his
tutees and a student cameraman (Sam Claflin) as they attempt to both prove and
document the theory that supernatural powers are simply a manifestation of
psychological trauma. They begin studying a young girl who believes she is
possessed by an evil entity, and a strange relationship begins to develop
between her and cameraman Brian as the professor’s attempts to create a poltergeist
take their toll.
In an era where endless Paranormal
Activity sequels, squeezing every buck out of the found-footage genre and
reliance purely on cattle-prod jump scares, it’s refreshing to see a horror
film that seems to have been made by people who understand how suspense works.
In the same way that Woman in Black tricked
you into thinking that it’s going to be a run-of-the-mill horror flick set in a
creaky old house but did something interesting, The Quiet Ones uses the ‘house in the middle of nowhere’ setting in
a way that doesn’t just turn the lights off and throw furniture around when
things go wrong.
While rare (but noticeable), there are still uses of very
loud noises out of absolutely nowhere to accentuate the scares, but asides from
that, they are achieved through realistic and unobtrusive special effects, a
sparing but effective use of a rumbling, mechanical musical score (there is
something to be said for music that can make a scene of occult research feel
intense) and an unflinching refusal by the camera to shy away from the horror.
The camera-work is an interesting mix of live-action and old celluloid stock
filmed from the perspective of the cameraman as he observes the increasing
number of bizarre and terrifying events unfolding before the investigators.
As far as performances go, Jared Harris is well cast as the
physics professor slowly declining into madness in a knowing manner very reminiscent
of classic Hammer-horror and Sam Claflin builds a lot on his brief performance
in Catching Fire, creating a very believable
character struggling with his own beliefs as the absolute horror of the
experiment becomes increasingly harder to deal with. Olivia Cooke is also very
good as Jane, the tortured subject of the experiment, taking a very over-used
character (the silent, unblinking possessed girl) and doing something
interesting with it, alternating between an almost comatose recluse and a young
woman dealing with adolescence and emerging emotions.
The running time of just less than 100 minutes means that some
of the character development feels a little rushed, but it means that the film
has adequate time to set up scares, deliver on the suspense, and create an
intriguing story without feeling repetitive. Taking unexpected turns, featuring
good performances and inciting real fear in the audience, The Quiet Ones is a very welcome breath of fresh air in mainstream
horror movies, proving once again that constant scenes of exorcisms and
annoying families with camcorders have become tired old tropes and that the
best thing to do is wipe that all away and focus on believable characters and more
interesting methods to create a genuinely tense atmosphere.
4 Stars
4 Stars
