Driven by the voice of her unborn child, seven month pregnant Ruth embarks on a homicidal killing spree to avenge the recent death of her husband.

This slasher black comedy is the brilliant directorial debut of its star Alice Lowe. Seen in various low budget Brit flicks particularly the absolutely outstanding Ben Wheatley classic “Sightseers”, she cements her role as that crazy woman you wouldn’t sit anywhere near on a bus.

“Prevenge” is a low budget low key thriller that appears influenced by the days when Hammer Horror ditched the monster creature features and produced a couple of contemporary horrors, see “Straight On till Morning” if you haven’t already. It’s the real life monsters that are in fact the scariest, and in this case; pregnant widows.

Partly reliant on what appears as a largely improvised or bare bones dialogue script it’s the editing, cinematography and the understated music that’s the real driving force here. Music from ex-Unkle members now Toydrum, the synth atmospheric score creates an unsettling edge complimented by Lowes insanely real performance.

Naturalistically shot, clearly using available light, the cinematography places the audience deep into this gritty grainy story whether they want to or not.

The supporting cast are excellent too, with the female supports getting the biggest slice of the corpse. Jo Hartley (This is England, The Mimic), Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, The Moorside), & Kate Dickie (The Witch, Prometheus), the standouts.

If I did have one quibble, it would be that the demises were mostly one note. A bit of gore-induced variety wouldn’t have gone astray.

I absolutely applaud Lowes tenacity in making this film whilst being 7-8 months pregnant herself. Her drive, or axe to grind, very apparent in getting this beautifully crafted horror comedy out of her system.

There’s a message here deep at the films core…don’t piss off Alice Lowe…EVER!!

• Myles Davies

 

Catch the Sydney Premiere of Prevenge at the Sydney Underground Film Festival.

Screening times and tickets available below:

FRIDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER – 08:30 PM
FRIDAY TICKET

SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER – 08:00 PM
SATURDAY TICKET