The film plays well to its strengths, making a lot of light and shade from some basic ingredients. Of particular note is the skies, whether the high-lux starscapes at night, or stormy daytime vistas, the shape of pincers seems to lurk and creep everywhere, almost subliminally. And the smart 4:3 framing and black and white photography really help to home these touches within the ink and papyrus feel of early 20th century horror.
The character work steps deftly between deadpan appreciations of the deliciously weird cast, and an unexpectedly sharp dramatic edge when it comes to the framing of Jim’s descent.
Redmayne brings home a lovely performance as Jim, and Stratton-Twine is very funny as Hollis, Marina’s brother and ‘fishologist’- a really good example of the insane creative reach you get with stupid wigs and accents. The script provides a wealth of funny lines and situations for pretty much everyone present, and there is a healthy disregard for logic and plenty of love for just ginning up the mystery and energy. The obsessed PW, in particular, played here by Os Leanse, is great, serving as the motor, and he reminded me very much of Peter Richardson.
“steps deftly between deadpan appreciations of the deliciously weird cast, and an unexpectedly sharp dramatic edge”
The caustic tone felt immature, perhaps. When Jim yells at his girlfriend to shut up in an opening scene, when she didn’t do anything, it sounds mean, and you momentarily wonder about these characters. Especially with that sound booth scene, with its awful chorus of smug young film-makers reaching a delirious boiling point. But the script, Redmayne, and the cast in general do a great job of ferrying all that young media professional shitwittery to the coast, easily skewering them. The tone for the rest of the film is reliably and enjoyably spot on.
This is a great film. By chance, I watched this with a trained fishmonger, and the additional horrors of their DVD commentary on pulling parasitic worms from Gurnard suggest there is a gap in the marine horror market.
A fine film. She cuts the water like a knife.
The Peril at Pincer Point screened at the SXSW Film Festival
