Oddity

This praised new Irish film has impressed critics and Damian McCarthy certainly has the potential to bring interesting things to the table in the future – though Caveat, his debut, was an ordeal for me and I didn't have high expectations here. In the end, I wasn't offended by Oddity, it has interesting and strong moments, but the horror side is a bit lacking, which is a shame. McCarthy is going a bit in the style of Mike Flanagan, i.e. both enjoy a slow pace, with minimal scares and more emphasis on the characters and the story. There's one pretty intense and creepy jump-scare that had a very strong effect on me, there was an interesting twist and the finale has a nice atmosphere too, just a shame the Mummy was very underused, it deserved a lot more space. The craftsmanship is fine, too, but this is not the style of horror I'm looking for. The effort is worth it, though. We'll see what happens next time. 65% (08/22/2024)

Some might find it banal, slow, predictable, and with a minimal amount of horror elements, but in my view, Damian McCarthy has turned this into virtues. Inspired by Creepshow, Child’s Play, and the bearded psychological horror Don’t Look Now with Donald Sutherland, he crafted an atmospheric piece that perfectly exploits the interior spaces of the expansive, reconstructed barn resembling an estate, similarly to how fellow filmmaker Flanagan heightens the tension with suggestive music and effectively blends thriller elements with a smaller dose of the supernatural (it somewhat resembled Zemeckis's What Lies Beneath, of course, without the finale). It's a pity about the final shot, which, along with the choice of song, somewhat lightened the mood. I had envisioned maintaining the dark tones and perhaps a subtle nudge from the staircase. (08/26/2024)

Damian McCarthy obviously has a lot of talent, but he still needs to work on it. Although Oddity already gives a more coherent cinematic impression compared to Caveat, I still feel a certain clumsiness, as if I'm watching an (extremely good!) amateur film rather than the work of a professional. In particular, for example, the sounds and movements seemed to be straight out of some free creative commons library. Overall, definitely a marginal improvement and in the waters of slightly above average, but I make no secret of the fact that I was hoping for more. Even even the plot is slightly unsatisfying, trite, I would have liked the main character of the blind medium to show a bit more ... (08/25/2024)