Last night I finally caught up with HAUNTER (2013) by
director Vincenzo Natali and it was fantastic! I probably should shy away from
over praising the film out of the fear that readers of this blog will go into
it with their expectations set high and feel disappointed but - I really loved
this movie. It is a ghost story with a very intriguing twist but that twist is
only the beginning of the tale with many great moments to follow. I've been a
fan of Natali's past work since CUBE (1997) through SPLICE (2009) and I had
known this was his newest movie I would have watched it the minute it popped up
for possible viewing. (This reminds me that I still need to see his 2002 film
CYPHER which promises to be a spy story!) I love the mood that the director is
able to evoke in his films. There is a slightly heightened reality combined
with the banality of the everyday that is unique and has the effect making his
movies feel like something is about to happen at any time. They are smoothly
told and the direction is naturalistic and uncomplicated in the way information
is presented. Natali is an excellent director whose work seems incapable of
connecting with a huge audience but it is perfect for me. I think his ideas are
just too out of the mainstream - too quirky - to make most viewers comfortable
with his stories.
The cast of HAUNTER is very good with Abigail Breslin
showing real skill as the main character and excellent Canadian character actor
Stephen McHattie being a creepy bastard in brilliant fashion. The little boy that
plays Breslin's brother is a bit stiff in his role but that is the only sour performance
note in the entire movie. If you've seen and liked his earlier films or even if
they seemed too odd in the past, give this one a try. It might be his most
accessible horror work to date and in a better world would have been a hit in
theaters. It is available to stream on Netflix which is where I watched it.
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