Film Review: The Cottage

by Philip Key, Liverpool Daily Post

The Cottage (Cert. 18, 92 mins)
Stars: Jennifer Ellison, Andy Serkis, Reece Shearsmith
Directed by Paul Andrew Williams

JUST why do we get so many horror films these days? I suspect that it’s because they are quick and easy to make and - above all - quite cheap.

All you need is a deserted location, a group of victims and someone with an axe.

The Cottage does not entirely escape that stereotype, but it has a little more going for it including an intelligent and humorous script, fine performances and a sense of the bizarre.

Written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams – who grew up in Liverpool – it is the story of two kidnappers, their female victim and a disfigured farmer with a psychopathic personality.

Liverpool’s own Jennifer Ellison is surprisingly good as the victim, tied up in the cottage and giving her kidnappers a hard time, both physically and verbally, in a brash Scouse accent.

The kidnappers are brothers, one tough and rough (Andy Serkis), the other soppy and soft (The League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith).

What they don’t know is there is a mad axeman farmer in the area ready to lop off people’s bits and pieces.

From the jokey first half, the film shifts a gear into the comedy-gore area of Shaun of the Dead, and there is plenty to give the stomach a few jolts.

Williams had success with his first film, the tough thriller London to Brighton, and, while completely different, The Cottage reveals a stylish film-maker at work.