Horror

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The Cottage

Steel Mill Pictures

Isle of Man Film

UK Film Council

Screen Yorkshire

United Kingdom

Français

Polski

English

Andy Serkis

Reece Shearsmith

Jennifer Ellison

Steven O'Donnell

Cat Meacher

Danny Nussbaum

Logan Wong

Jonathan Chan-Pensley

Simon Schatzberger

Doug Bradley

Dave Legeno

Katy Murphy

Georgia Groome

Eden Watson

James Bierman

Christopher Ross

Tania Polentarutti

Marianne Agertoft

Martin Pope

Paul Andrew Williams

Tom Hemmings

Conal Palmer

Kristyan Mallett

Jacqueline Fowler

Paul Hyett

Rod Hamlin

Rebecca Cain

Brian Eatough

Rachael Fitzgerald

Stuart Conran

Mark Shelley

Graham Thomas

Andy Ludford

Toby Troyna

Peter Johnson

Tom White

Bryan Pollard

Kevin White

Roger Dobson

Derek Ixer

Phillip Perry

Dan Frye

Mickey Woolfson

Steve Dawson

Joe Geary

Julie Heskin

Richard Miller

Billy Mahoney Jnr

Daniel Swahn

Tony Kay

Mitch Low

Darren McQuade

Ricky Butt

Paul William Edwards

Jess Richards

Anders Muammar

Kirsten de Maid

Danny Merton

Peter Holmgren

Clare Mahoney

Warwick Drucker

Ben Gibbs

Jason Swanscott

Paul Tanner

Tobias Eedy

Phil Cape

Naresh Kaushal

Paul Brown

Trevor Swanscott

Tim Waller

Simon Marsh

George Bland

Ted Swanscott

Erik Anderson

Jacob Otterström

Andrew Dearnley

Justin Eely

Stuart Hurley

Mark Dempsey

Anders Hakansson

Terry Robb

Andy McBrearty

Colin Worrall

Chris Sturmer

Oliver Upton

Jo Newberry

Gareth Milne

Birgit Elsaesser

Ken Lowe

Nina Sagemoen

Caroline Silk

Nigel Hillier

Sean Wheelan

Sian Sutherland

Danuta Skarszewska

Peter Eardley

Susan Ross

Lee Martin

Richard Hart

Fiona McCann

Andy Richards

David Seaton

Crispian Sallis

Barry Tracy

Tony Gibson

Richard Bevan

Camilla Shepherd

Ken Marshall

John Watters

It's a comedy with bite, right to the end.

Two brothers, David & Peter, kidnap Tracey, the daughter of local tough guy gangster Arnie, they hold her to ransom for the sum of £100,000. What they hadn't bargained into the equation is that Tracey is one tough feisty lady, and that a turn of events will lead them to something far more scary than big bad gangster Arnie.

This is the second feature from director Paul Andrew Williams, and bearing in mind that his debut effort was the highly lauded gritty drama London To Brighton, it's no surprise to find that some folk are a little bemused as to the genre splicing nature of The Cottage. The Cottage is far more in keeping with Christopher Smith's 2006 horror comedy, Severance, and certainly it wouldn't be out of place as a double bill with that criminally undervalued picture.

Very much a film of two halves, this picture is likely to prove a very divisive piece, and it will (has) only find an audience based on word of mouth alone. You will be hard pressed to find any sort of press marketing that will prepare you for the type of genre fusion film you are getting. Already, based on the comments written on this site thus far, you can see that some people were confused (or annoyed) by the tonal shift for the second half of the film. The first half sees poles apart brothers, David & Peter, swapping comedy dialogue as they whisk through a number of exchanges and circumstances with the marvellously volatile Tracey. While the second part of the picture hits you over the head with a quick switch to horror formula that has catering fulfilment for the gore junkies amongst us.

And this is where the problem lies with many, why didn't the film stay as a kidnap farce? Why didn't it set its stall out to be a horror film from the off? There is no denying that the films' high points come with the horror moments, but the film is first and foremost a comedy, from the first reel to the cheeky end of credits sequence it is what it is. As deliciously sick as the gore shift is, The Cottage never once takes its tongue out of its bloody cheek. It's obvious that Paul Andrew Williams is having fun here, and he is clearly hoping his audience will as well. View it as an all encompassing comedy/horror/thriller in that order and you wont go far wrong.

Andy Serkis plays David, the tough brother of the two, with Serkis doing a wonderful line in both visual and vocal comedy. This benefits Reece Shearsmith as Peter, a character so far under the thumb he can barely be seen. Shearsmith feeds off of Serkis to seal the comedy deal for this odd brotherly couple. British tabloid fave Jennifer Ellison plays Tracey, literally swearing for England to have the audience divided as to if they want her to survive or not! But it's a gutsy show from her and one hopes she ventures into this territory a bit more often. There is nothing new or fresh here, and this wont win any awards; even in its homeland of England, but it is FUN and it shows a director intent on making films from different genres. 8/10

The Cottage Trailer - In UK Cinemas 14th March - Pathe

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The Cottage

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Cast

Andy Serkis

Reece Shearsmith

Jennifer Ellison

Steven O'Donnell

Cat Meacher

Danny Nussbaum

Logan Wong

Jonathan Chan-Pensley

Simon Schatzberger

Doug Bradley

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