Let Her Out (2016)
Starring Alanna LeVierge, Nina Kiri
Directed by Cody Calahan
Brought to you from the producers of Bite comes Cody Calahan’s latest venture, Let Her Out. Whilst deviating quite a way from his previous Antisocial films, this one shares quite a lot in common with the aforementioned Bite in the sense that the protagonist finds herself playing host to an “unwelcome guest” intent on using her body as a vessel to act out all manner of ulterior motives of an evil kind.
Let Her Out tells the tormented tale of young biker courier Helen (LeVierge), who finds herself suffering sudden inexplicable blackouts and hallucinations after a near fatal accident on her birthday. After a scan, she receives the news that the bang to her head has triggered off the sudden rapid growth of a brain tumor. This sarcoma is actually the remains of her vanishing twin sister that was absorbed in utero, and given the fact it’s growing at such a rapid rate, Helen’s swiftly scheduled for emergency surgery; so all she needs to do is keep herself together for three more days. Piece of cake, right?
Unfortunately, Helen’s evil twin has a bigger hold on her than she thought, and all the puppet strings that the twin is pulling are revealed to the protagonist – and the audience – in cunning fashion in the form of seriously shuddersome blackouts. Absolute kudos to the editing and scripting as the blackouts are what ramp up the tension like nobody’s business thanks to the eerie aesthetic and the way the blackouts are cut together. You almost feel like you’re losing just as many marbles as the protagonist.
With the film told almost entirely from Helen’s point of view, LeVierge’s shoulders are fortunately strong enough to support the brunt of the film and she puts in a top-notch performance playing the innocent Helen battling to escape this evil twin whilst playing all kinds of evil when the role demands it. She is also reasonably well supported by her BFF, Molly, played by Nina Kiri, although their performances were slightly marred by the male cast that prove kind of pale in comparison.
Regular Black Fawn DoP Jeff Maher is on top form for Let Her Out, and the lighting and backdrops are all kinds of jaw-dropping awesome. Most of the film has an orangey/red-tinged glow to it and really gives the Toronto backdrop an ethereal and disquieting feel. One particular set piece shot in an underground station blew me away thanks to Maher’s wise positioning of the camera, making what is already a brutally violent scene all the more… brutal.
On the topic of brutality, Shaun Hunter’s effects work is nothing shy of amazing, once again. And whilst this film is much less visceral than, say, the previous Black Fawn Films release Bed of the Dead, it has its fair share of gore in store; and one scene towards the end will have your skin crawling, quite literally.
At this point, I’m not sure if I really need to reiterate just how much a Stephanie Copeland score adds to a Black Fawn Films movie; suffice it to say that she flexes her majestic musical muscles yet again. This time round she delves into territory not too far removed from John Murphy’s creepy 28 Days Later orchestrations, one of my all-time favorite scores.
At the end of the day, if the idea of a possession film mixed with Cronenbergian body horror sounds like a killer combination, you’d be foolish to give this one a miss. Regardless of a couple of performance pitfalls, thanks to an astounding aesthetic and some anxiety-inducing hallucinations, this is by far the most polished film the Black Fawn Films gang have put out thus far. Visual flair aside, Bite still remains at the top of my Black Fawn faves list, but Let Her Out comes a very close second… And I REALLY loved Bite.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
