By Guest Contributor Chris Ward
In Southold, New York in 1843 a young woman named Mary (Stefanie Scott) is being interrogated by the local authorities about what has happened in her family’s mansion house. The thing is, Mary is blindfolded and behind the blindfold there is blood trickling down her face, and as she starts to tell her story of how her matriarchal grandmother died and then what happened to the rest of her family, we get to see a tale of a family ruled by religious oppression, fear and other, more supernatural forces. But at the crux of it is Mary’s forbidden relationship with housemaid Eleanor (Isabelle Fuhrman), a love that Mary’s God-fearing family have tried to suppress by various punishments but to no avail, and as Mary reveals what went on in the house her own fate is made abundantly clear.
The Last Thing Mary Saw is perhaps one of the most authentically gloomy and atmospheric horror/drama movies of recent times, and let’s be honest, there have been quite a few to choose from. With that in mind the movie does fit neatly into the slow-burn period piece category made popular in the mainstream by titles such as The Witch and The Woman in Black, and it does feel a lot longer than its 85-minute running time, but writer/director Edoardo Vitaletti’s use of natural light and candles is impressively rendered, so much so that you do feel like you are watching a real-life event unfold from 1843, as opposed to a 21st century movie.
The other strengths are the performances from Stefanie Scott and Isabelle Fuhrman, whose forbidden love is entirely believable given that they do have a chemistry whenever they are onscreen together. Not necessarily a sexy chemistry, but something that says these are two people who belong together, who would flourish in an environment away from the tyranny of Mary’s family. Credit must also go to Judith Roberts as Mary’s grandmother, who is credited only as The Matriarch, which gives you a clue as to her character. Her presence is the evillest and gives the movie its supernatural edge, and if there were an award for most convincing and frightening old lady in a horror movie then The Matriarch is a sure contender.
But despite the strong production values – especially given the tight budget – and even stronger performances, The Last Thing Mary Saw never quite hits the spooky highs it teases during its first act, playing up the drama aspect more than the horror. Yes, horror movie fans will be drawn to this thanks to the dark and brooding setting, the occasional scenes of torture (kneeling on rice sounds extremely painful) and the Hammer Horror-style ending that finally rewards your patience, but there is a sense of restraint during the second act when the movie should have indulged a little more in its darker and more gruesome aspects to add an edge to the story that would have intensified the drama and made the journey a bit more satisfying. Instead, we get Rory Culkin turn up as a random stranger who may or may not have some knowledge about what is going on, try to steal some food, get his finger cut off and have a monologue about his facial scarring that doesn’t really play into anything other than the suggestion of the belief in evil. It could have been something, but the writing in this part of the movie is too vague to offer anything other than suggestion, and we already have enough of that thanks to scary grandmothers and secret lesbian lovers.
All of which makes The Last Thing Mary Saw a little underwhelming, especially on the first watch. However, once you realise that the horror aspects have been played down and you know what you are getting then repeated viewings are a little more fulfilling. There is something dark and potentially horrific pulsating at the heart of The Last Thing Mary Saw, and perhaps a bigger budget or another draft of the script may have brought that out, but as it stands, for a debut feature it does show promise for future endeavours, even if it is a little too unbalanced to truly deliver on its promise.
The Last Thing Mary Saw (2021) is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Acorn Media International on 19th September, 2022. To find out more about Chris Ward’s writing, please click here.