HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER (2015)

THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER (2015)

Flick is a spooky supernatural horror set at a Catholic all girls school and focuses on odd freshman Kathryn (Kiernan Shipka) and upperclassman Rose (Lucy Boynton). Break is coming, but Kat and Rose are not being picked up by their respective parents. Kat has been put in Rose’s charge and soon Rose begins to feel there is something off with the young girl. As they are alone at school with only two chaperones (Elana Krausz and Heather Tod Mitchell) on campus, Rose starts to realize something is not right with the increasingly creepy Kat. Intertwined is another story of a lone young woman who calls herself Joan (Emma Roberts) and a couple (James Remar and Lauren Holly) who are headed to the school who offer her a ride. These stories are destined to collide, but how and why?

This is a very impressive debut from writer/director Oz Perkins, son of legendary horror icon Anthony Perkins. He drenches the film in atmosphere which helps keeps us unnerved and attentive as his two narrative’s play out. It seems a bit unconventional at first, but as the separate, but connected stories progress, we start to realize just how they are related and by the end credits it makes disturbing sense. There is some shocking violence in it’s last act and Perkins is smart to hold it off till then as it has jarring impact because the film was relying on mood and shadows to establish it’s unsettling ambiance. Though, the director doesn’t go overboard with that violence either, so it doesn’t overshadow his established atmosphere, just embellishes it. The stories of Joan and Rose and Kat are connected indeed and the added mystery adds to a film that already has a good grip on us as we realize Kathryn has some very disturbing secrets and Rose may be in danger. To say anymore would be to spoil a very creepy film from first time director Perkins, who went on to direct the equally spooky I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, which was oddly released first.

The cast are all good. Young Kiernan Shipka is very effective as the somewhat odd Kathryn. She gives us a young girl who seems a bit emotionally detached and yet offers tinges that there is something a bit disturbing about Kat. The actress is very effective in both maintaining an air of mystery and then being outright scary once we find out what she is really all about. Lucy Boynton is also good as the rebellious Rose. We like Rose, who has her own secrets, though far more grounded ones, and are along with her suspicions when she starts to believe there is something very “off” about Kat. Emma Roberts is also very good as mystery woman Joan. We know there is definitely more to this drifter and as things progress, we find we are right. Remar and Holly also do good work as Bill and Linda. They are good at making us very unsure about their motives, especially Bill’s, in picking up the pretty young drifter. There is something just as off about them as with Joan and the film and actors keep us guessing as to who we should be wary of most. A good cast that add to the atmosphere as does brother Elvis Perkins’s effective score.

Overall this is a very impressive debut film from a new voice in the horror genre. Being the son of legendary actor Anthony Perkins may be an interesting footnote, but Osgood Perkins is making his own name with two impressive and really spooky first features. The Blackcoat’s Daughter is a very atmospheric and creepy little movie with a good dose of mystery and Perkins connects all the dots in disturbing fashion by it’s end. It’s chilling, has a very effective visual style and even surprises us with some moments of shocking violence. A bone chilling debut from Oz Perkins!

 

-MonsterZero NJ

2 and 1/2 carnivorous critters

 

 

 

 

 

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