Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Damian McCarthy
Starring: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Will O'Connell, Michael Patric
With his first two films, Caveat and Oddity, Irish writer/director Damian McCarthy established himself as one of the most exciting new voices in horror filmmaking. Hollywood will surely have come calling, but McCarthy has resisted the lure of Tinseltown and stayed put in Ireland, where he can likely remain truer to his vision. Instead, Hollywood has come to McCarthy, with Adam Scott adding star power to McCarthy's third film.
The addition of an American protagonist in this Irish-set horror recalls the trend for British genre movies of the '50s to import Hollywood stars. Actors like Dana Andrews and Brian Donleavy would often play abrasive Americans who scoffed at the locals' superstitions and were downright rude to everyone they encountered. Scott's Ohm Bauman is cast from this mould. A successful novelist, Bauman is plagued by personal demons regarding the deaths of his parents while he was a youngster, and his nihilism is bleeding into his work. Struggling with the climax of his latest book, Ohm decides to finally honour his late parents' wish of having their ashes scattered in the grounds of the rural Irish hotel where they spent their honeymoon.
Upon arrival at the remote venue, Ohm instantly begins rubbing the locals up the wrong way. He chastises a groundskeeper (Michael Patric) for killing a disruptive goat; cruelly mocks a bellhop's (Will O'Connell) literary ambitions; and accuses the hotel's elderly owner (Brendan Conroy) of behaving inappropriately around his grandchildren by telling ghost stories. The one friend he makes is local outcast Jerry (David Wilmot), who lives in the woods nearby and makes a brand of poitín that the functioning alcoholic Ohm takes a liking to.
Wishing to see the honeymoon suite where his parents stayed, Ohm is told that the floor has been closed off as it is inhabited by a centuries old witch. Ohm laughs off the suggestion, but the hotel staff all swear by having had unsettling experiences in the room's vicinity. When one staff member disappears, Ohm teams up with Jerry to investigate. Will they find the witch responsible or a more earthly explanation?
The influence of EC comics and Amicus anthologies on McCarthy's work continues in Hokum. Like the stories in the pages of those comics and the Amicus segments, Hokum sees criminal activity rubbing up against the supernatural. While it does indeed feature an undead witch, for much of Hokum's running time it plays more like a thriller than a horror movie. McCarthy applies his clever, economical filmmaking skills to the suspense thriller format with natural ease. The centrepiece of the movie is an extended sequence involving Ohm's attempts to break free after becoming trapped in the honeymoon suite. It's a brilliantly executed stretch of visual filmmaking that shows McCarthy has an eye for detail that sets him apart from most of his genre peers. McCarthy has fashioned the sort of setup you might find in the work of Hitchcock or the Coens, and the suspense is ratcheted up by Brian Philip Davis's pinpoint editing.
Scott's Ohm is the sort of misanthropic protagonist beloved of EC comics and Amicus, but the difference here is that McCarthy doesn't construct his narrative around willing us to root for his downfall. Casting the affable Scott against type means we sympathise with Ohm, despite his best attempts to make it difficult for us to do so. Other villains, both human and otherworldly, emerge, with Ohm becoming the reluctant hero of his own story.
As with his previous two films, McCarthy makes great use of a single location. He understands the importance of establishing a setting's geography for an audience, and so we are never confused regarding where characters are in relation to one another. Just when you think you've lost the ability to be susceptible to a jump scare, McCarthy pulls off one of the most effective examples of the form I've seen in years here, a masterclass in misdirection.
Hokum isn't quite on the level of McCarthy's previous films chiefly because its premise lacks the "Well, that's something I haven't seen before" impact of Caveat and Oddity. The plot here ultimately reveals itself to be rather run of the mill, but the thrill is in McCarthy's execution. No other English language genre filmmaker is currently working on this technical level.
Hokum is in UK/ROI cinemas from May 1st.
