The Cottage(2008).
© Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD: The Cottage
Rating: Unrated
Starring: Andy Serkis, Reece Shearsmith
Written By: Paul Andrew Williams
Directed By: Paul Andrew Williams
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2008
Extras: Deleted scenes, outtakes, storyboard gallery
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DVD Review of The Cottage
By: Tim JansonDate: Sunday, May 04, 2008
Andy Serkis, best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Gollum in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, gets some face time in the lead role in The Cottage, a twisted black comedy/slasher film coming to DVD on May 13. Serkis and Reece Shearsmith play feuding brothers David and Peter who have kidnapped the daughter of a strip club owner. They’ve taken their hostage Tracey (Jennifer Ellison) out to a remote cottage and from there, everything that can go wrong does. Tracey doesn’t make things easy on her witless captors…she’s loud, foulmouthed, and frankly scares the hell out of timid Peter.
Complicating matters is their befuddled accomplice and Tracey’s half brother Andrew, who has led the boss’s hitmen straight to the trio. The three and their hostage soon find themselves on the run through the wilderness, taking refuge at nearby farmhouse. Things go from bad to worse as they soon find out the farm is home to an ax-wielding cannibal who has just sharpened all his farm tools for his next meal.
The Cottage is a surprisingly fun little film. While it is thrilling and filled with generous amounts of blood and gore, a requisite for any good slasher film, it never lets it’s comedy elements stray too far away. Horror comedies often turn out as campy spoofs but this is anything but campy. The shock elements and the kills made by the enormous, disfigured killer are just as terrifying as in any horror film but director Paul Andrew Williams cleverly manages to sneak in droll bits of humor when you least expect it. Ellison is a riot as the buxom, mouthy hostage, who is more than a match for her captors. Her four-letter tirades allow her to steal just about any scene where she is not gagged.
Serkis, who has lent his name to various film and video game projects, finally gets to shine in a starring role in front of the camera. As David he projects a pretense of the tough guy mastermind but with a genuine love for his hen-pecked brother. He shows a range far beyond just doing voice-over roles. Shearsmith is equally enjoyable as nervous and whiny Peter, always giving into his brother but eventually proving that he is strong and resourceful. Their scenes together early in the film as they argue over things from their childhood are some of the best in the film. It’s almost a shame when the caper film turns into the horror film. If there is a weakness it is that the film does take a bit of time to develop and move itself along to the horror portion of the film.
