Hounds of Love

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I will confess to often finding Australia to be a haunting place. I have a strange fascination with it. It's hard to explain, but I really enjoy watching Australian films, because of that. Hounds Of Love is a well made psychological drama. It's harrowing, because of it's subject matter, but I also find it quite subtle, in the way it's handled. The central characters are all well played, but Emma Booth as tormented wife Evelyn White, I found pretty mesmerising. It was also refreshing to see the male protagonist (Stephen Curry) portrayed as a streak-of-piss coward, as I feel many of these types of individuals are, in real life. Class.

The positive reviews that is. The movie itself isn't poorly done. Its professional, the acting is solid, the film is quality, there are no aggregious mistakes that catch the eye... But it also really doesn't go anywhere. I'm not sure what the 'entertaining' part of this movie was supposed to be. There's no real suspense to speak of. I suppose if you stretched you could say there is some psychological intrigue but not even to make you think about anything worthwhile. I didn't develop any attachment to the characters, no real love for the victim nor overwhelming hatred of the scumbags... The movie just kinda tells this story in a pretty bland way and then ends. Waste of time, IMO.

I have been seeking out Australian films especially thrillers since I saw THE LOVED ONES. That film blew me away with its performances and suspense. HOUNDS OF LOVE is every bit as good as that film. In fact, it is in many ways more disturbing because there is more character development. The film is about a deranged couple named John and Evelyn that kidnaps young girls and takes them home to eventually kill them. One night they see a girl named Vicki that snuck out of her home to go to a party walking on the street and stop to offer her a ride. At first, Vicki refuses, but they convince her to come to their home for some drugs. They go to the house and have a drink Vicki starts feeling woozy. She tries to leave but is forcibly prevented to leave. The couple takes her into a room and chain her on a bed and gag her. The film at this point becomes a disturbing but riveting character study. The couple mentally and physically torture Vicki. But what is shown is that Evelyn is a very unstable woman that is totally controlled by John. Vicki begins to try to drive a wedge between the couple, telling Evelyn that John doesn't love her. Evelyn begins to have doubts. But eventually she becomes more willing to see Vicki die. Vicki's mother is desperately looking for her daughter. The tension is built up very well by a cast that is committed to their roles. But the film is so well acted that you become invested in what's going on. Grade: A-

Another grim and depressing slice of true crime from Australia, very similar to the bleak SNOWTOWN in look and tone. I didn't like this one at all, feeling it too much of a standard 'torture *' movie; plus, there's very little story here, just a girl chained in a house with a psycho and his wife. Inevitably the focus is on creepy 'male gaze' nudity and the degradation and humiliation of women with a bit of animal abuse on the side. Utterly nihilistic in terms of character and tone, it just serves as a reminder of man's inhumanity and misogyny and it's one I could have done without.

The crafting of the story is great, but the way it is shot makes it feel like a student film. There are at times where the camera man screws up the framing and movement. This film deserved better cinematography and the use of digital killed the period it was going for. Should've used 16mm cameras to have that 80s feel. The actors are fine, I would've liked the husband to be more bigger in size so it's a bit more realistic because he sure looked like a weak skinny bag of sticks. There are some disturbing imagery and it works. It's a good watch if you're into psychological thrillers. The film is quite a slow burn, so be patient. 7.0/10

NO spoilers This stripped to the bone, realist thriller is fantastic. It calls to mind other stripped down thrillers like Sun Don't Shine(2012) and Blue ruin(2013) both in its color scheme and intense violence. There was also a lot of elements, particularly the family dynamic and the cinematography that reminded me of the fantastic Animal Kingdom directed by David Michôd and that's always a good thing. I would recommend going into it knowing as little as possible. In summary Great direction from debuting director Ben Young, Well written, Fantastic performances from all the cast particularly Emma booth, Gorgeous cinematography and a Great score. All the violence is tastefully done for anyone who is worried. Definitely give it a watch if you like lean, mean thrillers.

This is a deeply unpleasant film, likely to appeal to psychopaths who dream of torturing women (they will get a kick from this film, and perhaps some "how to" tips) and Tarantino lovers. IMHO, films should be entertaining, or make us think, or ideally both. The entertaining aspects of this film are the strong acting of the three leads, the obvious competence of the direction and cinematography, gripping tension – and nothing else. Unless you find graphic violence against women entertaining. What message are we meant to draw from this film? That psychopathic men can control women and enlist them into their schemes? We have known that since the Moors Murders in the 1960s. That people can be duped into putting themselves in others' power? I'm sure no-one has ever thought of that before. That captives can play their captors off against each other? A cliché of hostage films. That mothers who leave their husbands are somehow culpable if their daughters go missing? This film lingers over the committing of violence against women, or its immediate after-effects. Lovers of "violence *" will like the scenes of the captive woman being chained to a bed, threatened with a knife to the throat (several times), raped or strangled. (Strangling a young woman is graphically shown, but kicking a dog to death is out of shot!). Throw in some bleeding mouths and noses and lots of bruises, for good measure. And all the working-class characters are portrayed as brutish, aggressive to each other and uninterested in helping others. Fortunately, the middle-class mother and (surgeon) father eventually come to the rescue. No excuses for the Director, who also wrote the film. The publicity leaflet at the cinema says that the film is "loosely based on real life events", but the director has been quoted as saying that it was inspired by his mother's crime novels. Get your stories straight! Graphic and very nasty.