- Director: Damian Mc Carthy
- Writer: Damian Mc Carthy
- Stars: Ben Caplan, Conor Dwane, Jonathan French
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
Synopsis
A woman walks into a dirty old room, holding a really creepy drumming rabbit toy in front of her. She cuts a hole in the wall.
Barret offers Isaac a job babysitting. He wants someone to look over his niece on an isolated property. It’s 200 a day for not more than five days. She’s got some psychological problems, but she’s harmless. “There’s got to be more to it than that,” Issac says. Credits roll.
When he sees the house is on an island, Isaac points out that he can’t swim. “Well, it’s lucky we have a boat then, isn’t it?” Laughs Barret. The house is dirty, dingy, and all-around nasty. Barrett explains that Olga doesn’t like to be touched and that Isaac must never go into her room. Olga is terrified of someone attacking her in her sleep.
Barret gives Isaac a harness with a chain that will keep him out of certain rooms of the house. Isaac is a big pushover, so he agrees to wear the leash. Barret leaves Isaac alone in the house with Olga and takes the boat back to the mainland. The chain doesn’t reach far enough to let him use the bathroom.
That night, as Isaac tries to sleep, there are shenanigans with a painting. The house is definitely creepy, and he finds the rabbit toy-thing. Olga comes in, carrying a crossbow; she’s awake and talking now. Isaac doesn’t completely remember who he is, and he’s not even sure how he knows Barret. Olga’s mother was insane, and her father committed suicide with that crossbow.
Isaac goes down into the basement and sees the hole Olga cut in the pre-credit sequence. He looks inside and spots Olga’s dead mother inside. Isaac makes his way to a telephone and calls Barret and tells him about the body. He explains that he can’t call the police as he’s not sure where they are. Barret says to wait, “I’ll take care of you.”
Olga explains that Barret killed her mother, and now he’ll never let Isaac leave. Olga says that Isaac has been here before, about a year ago – he left his jacket then. Isaac was the one who locked her father in the basement. Isaac doesn’t remember any of this, and he doesn’t believe it. They call Barret, and he confirms it, which at least proves Olga isn’t delusional.
The dead body in the basement has the key to Isaac’s chain, so he tries to get it, which is easier than expected. He gets out of the harness. The power goes off, and mostly indecipherable things happen in the dark. He finds Olga in a harness of her own now, but he doesn’t have the key to that one.
Isaac starts to remember agreeing to lock Olga’s father in the basement. Olga starts hunting Isaac with her crossbow, clipping his ear once and hitting him in the leg the second time. We get another flashback to Isaac coming to the house in the past and wandering around in the dark then as well. Olga’s father was already locked in the basement, and Isaac had nothing to do with it.
Somehow, Isaac ends up crawling around inside the walls, but he’s clearly not alone. Barret arrives, and he wants to know what’s going on. Olga shoots him in the shoulder and locks him in the basement. Isaac calls through the intercom, but now Barret wonders who’s that in the basement with him? Hethought it was Isaac…
Commentary
As Barret padlocks the harness on Isaac, I told Kevin, “Isaac is the dumbest character who ever lived,” and I’m not going to retract that statement after the film. Who would go along with these conditions?
The house is perfect for this kind of film. It’s not quite falling down, but it’s completely skeezy and the kind of place you wouldn’t want to touch the walls, much less walk barefoot. The place is all dim, mysterious, and atmospheric, which was well done.
Their first hour, which focused on the situation and the house and the crazy girl was really good. Once the power went out, and Isaac started having flashbacks, the film ground to a halt and never recovered.
And the ending? I have no idea what happened.