Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: A psychic medium attempts to uncover the truth behind her sister’s murder at the site of the crime.
Yes, Yes and Yes!
As a horror fan I must admit the first half of this year had me feeling a bit disappointed. Every weekend I would seek out horror movies to watch and with every new release I watched, I found myself feeling let down. Then in early April The First Omen debuted, and I finally felt like things were getting back on track. I wanted the kind of experience that left me excited, entertained and eager for more.
With recent releases MaXXXine and Longlegs, things started picking up the pace and now with Damian Mc Carthy’s Oddity we’re off to the races!
This is one of those movies that is best seen knowing little to nothing about the story, so I’ll keep things as spoiler free as I can. The story starts off with a woman named Dani (Carolyn Bracken) who’s staying in a country house recently acquired by her and her husband, a psychiatrist named Ted (Gwilym Lee). Deciding to spend the night there, Dani is alone when she discovers a strange man is outside her door insisting she lets him in. The reason? He swears he saw someone sneak into the house and that Dani is in danger. What would you do?
One year later Dani’s twin sister Darcy (also played by Carolyn Bracken) who runs an antique shop with odd items she claims are cursed is visited by Ted. They make plans to have Darcy visit the house, which she does but unexpectedly bringing with her a large wooden crate with a very strange and deeply unsettling object inside.
The rest you should definitely see for yourself. From the very beginning this story pulls you in with Mc Carthy’s brilliant use of space and sound creating an atmosphere that unnerves you in the best ways. No lazy jump scares, no waste of time, the uneasiness he creates by just aiming the camera at a doorway for too long or stretching out silence delivers the kind of smart horror fans of the genre live for.
Granted the mystery as to what caused a certain character’s death isn’t difficult to figure out, the acting, pacing and use of the single location is so good, I couldn’t care less. Added to that was the dark comedy littered throughout and one could argue Oddity works just as well as a horror comedy as it does a supernatural one.
Only the second full length movie from Damian Mc Carthy (his debut was 2020 Irish horror film Caveat), but after viewing this you can go ahead and call me a fan. I definitely plan on checking out his debut Caveat as soon as I can. Until then, I can’t recommend seeing Oddity enough, as of right now it easily takes second place as my favourite horror movie of the year so far (The First Omen is currently first place).
Sommer’s Score: 8 out of 10
And you can check other recent horror movie reviews below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More