Review by Ben Bussey
Lisa Johnson (Abigail Breslin) is a day away from turning 16. Naturally she’s a gloomy little thing with her Smiths posters, Siouxie and the Banshees T-shirt and dark eye make-up, at odds with the perpetual chirpiness of her parents and little brother, who seem to think nothing of being housebound all day due to the thick fog outside. Yet when Lisa grumbles about how nothing ever changes and every day’s the same, this isn’t entirely down to your usual adolescent angst routine. It’s literally true. Every morning she wakes up on the same day, and watches her family blindly follow the exact same routine, with seemingly no one but her remembering anything about the day before. Or, I dunno, the same day. Urgh, headache.
This all sounds a bit Groundhog Day, and it is, up to a point. Yet whilst Bill Murray remained alone in his perpetual return to the same twenty four hour period, Breslin comes to the realisation that there are others aware of her experience – people who may not be from quite the same level of reality that she finds herself stuck in. And so the struggle begins to uncover the truth, relay it to her blinkered family, and somehow defeat the malevolent being that is holding them prisoner.
What’s rather frustrating for me, having just gone to pains to write a spoiler-free synopsis that only alludes to the mysteries which abound in Haunter, is that the film’s publicity has no such qualms. The press release gives away basically everything, and I gather much of the coverage out there does likewise (although, happily, the trailer below skirts the line well enough), which rather robs Haunter of any real power; if you know the answer to the riddle going in, it all feels a bit pointless. Then again, this is always a risk with movies based around building an intense mystery, as it’s so easy for the resolution to leave the viewer feeling distinctly underwhelmed. That’s at least part of why M Night Shyamalan’s star sank so rapidly. It’s also why Haunter feels rather like a movie made about ten years too late; it’s very much in the spirit of the post-Sixth Sense understated supernatural chillers, but thanks to the anxious teen angle it’s also in tune with the post-Twilight ‘young adult’ thing we have nowadays. Imagine The Others rewritten as a Point Horror novel and you’re pretty close to the mark.
That said, it would be unfair to call Haunter a twist-based movie. Whereas Shyamalan’s films always hinged on a big “HA-HA! Didn’t see that coming, did you?” moment, director Vincenzo Natali and writer Brian King have delievered a story whose secrets unfold gradually in what feels like a more organic fashion, crediting the audience with enough intelligence to keep up. This is particularly laudable given the film is geared most pointedly toward a young teenage audience, who we see often see pandered to and patronised. Happily, a lot of the waffle that tends to bog down these kind of teen-oriented tales is left out: no love interests, no big Breakfast Club woe-is-me monologues. It’s a strong role for Breslin, who is on screen for pretty much the duration and does a good job keeping us invested in the action. The supporting cast is mostly pretty strong as well, Stephen McHattie proving particularly effective as the mysterious boogeyman behind it all.
Still, none of this means Haunter is necessarily the most compelling film of its sort. Inevitably given the Groundhog Day elements, repetition does set in pretty quickly – but beyond that, even with the riddle-me-this set-up, it all feels a bit been-there done-that. There’s a good reason movies of this sort seemed to die out somewhat by the mid-2000s: they were just getting a bit tedious, and even though Haunter is barely 90 minutes long I did find myself checking my watch throughout wondering when it was all going to wrap up.
Then again – I’m a thirtysomething male who’s been into horror movies most of his life. I’m really not the target audience for Haunter. For kids who are just developing a taste for the genre, this is as good a gateway movie as any, I’m sure. It doesn’t talk down to the young, nor does it tone itself down for their benefit – it’s not the harshest thing you’ll ever see, but it does still have some pretty intense sequences, though I’m not entirely sure it warrants a 15 certificate (not that it’s by any means the worst decision the BBFC have made of late). I’d definitely recommend it for the young, fledgling genre fan, then – but more seasoned horror aficionados are less likely to get much from it.
Haunter comes to UK DVD and Blu-ray on 14th July 2014, from Studiocanal.