{"id":6705,"date":"2017-01-15T22:43:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-15T21:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=6705"},"modified":"2017-01-15T22:43:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-15T21:43:54","slug":"darling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2017\/01\/15\/darling\/","title":{"rendered":"Darling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Darling\"<\/a>
Darling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> DVD

\nRelease date:<\/B> 24 October 2016

\nDistributor:<\/B> Soda Pictures

\nDirector:<\/B> Mickey Keating

\nWriter:<\/B> Mickey Keating

\nCast:<\/B> Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Young, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden

\nUSA 2015

\n78 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A stylish riff on Repulsion<\/i> that pays homage to a number of other arthouse horror classics.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

A chilly art-horror exercise from writer-director Mickey Keating (Pod<\/i>), who reunites with lead actress Lauren Ashley Carter \u2013 but here gives her the crazy role rather than asking her to be the \u2018normal\u2019 character. Indeed, the film is pretty much built around Carter\u2019s presence as a stylish beauty with distracted eyes \u2013 she\u2019s virtually the whole show, and luckily is strong enough to carry a picture that sometimes can\u2019t make up its mind whether it\u2019s more than a collage of homages (we checked off The Shining<\/i><\/a>, Repulsion<\/i><\/a>, Rosemary\u2019s Baby<\/i>, Ms 45<\/i><\/a>, The Tenant<\/i> and others) couched in coolly gorgeous black and white (the only colour is lettering used in chapter headings). <\/p>\n

In New York \u2013 perhaps circa 1970, though that\u2019s not quite clear \u2013 an unnamed woman (Carter) takes a caretaker job (from sinister Sean Young) in an old house that has given rise to many ghost stories and whose previous caretaker has taken a suicide leap off the roof. The house is pristine \u2013 and, as a real location, interestingly narrow \u2013 but has a single locked room the Madame warns \u2018darling\u2019 away from \u2013 later, when opened, the contents are terrifying to the protagonist but not shown to us. The woman finds an inverted crucifix necklace in a drawer and later a random guy (Brian Morvant) in the street gives it back to her, claiming she\u2019s dropped it\u2026 She becomes convinced that the guy did something avenge-worthy to her (she has scars on her ribs \u2013 except when she doesn\u2019t) and sets out to stalk him and pick him up in a bar, leading to an uncomfortable flirtation\/confrontation, which pays off with a stabbing and extensive (if tactfully shot) dismemberment. Not only isn\u2019t it clear that the victim is the guilty party who (presumably) raped \u2018darling\u2019, it\u2019s ambiguous as to whether she\u2019s remembering something that happened to her \u2013 or has filled her blank soul with a trauma inherited from the previous caretaker, and liable to be passed on to the next (Helen Rogers), who turns up during the end credits to replay the opening scene. <\/p>\n

Glass Eye Pix mascots Larry Fessenden and John Speredakos show up as cops, barging in just as the heroine has been pared down to a screaming, primal creature. Many reviewers are puzzled or infuriated by the refusal to state clearly what\u2019s going on, but the inferences seem plain to me\u2026 and the cloudy areas deliberate. Carter \u2013 who was in Jugface<\/i> too \u2013 has something of the pop art look of a 1960s Italian comic heroine, with bobbed hair, carefully applied make-up (we see her doing it) and an array of little black dresses. Her stare is discomforting, yet undeniably sexy \u2013 raising the creepy possibility that she\u2019s attractive to her victim because she\u2019s mad rather than in spite of her mental troubles, be they her own or imposed on her by the house. Short enough not to wear out its welcome, this is an intriguing entry in the recent spate of post-millennial Repulsion<\/i> redos (Goddess of Love<\/i><\/a>, Sun Choke<\/i><\/a>, Broken<\/i>).<\/p>\n

Kim Newman<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A stylish riff on Repulsion<\/i> that pays homage to a number of other arthouse horror classics.
\nReview by Kim Newman<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3,1374],"tags":[1032,1302,111,1395,1397,1398],"class_list":["post-6705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-dvds-and-blu-rays","category-kim-newmans-nightmare-movies","tag-american-horror","tag-ghost","tag-horror-film","tag-possession","tag-psychotic-woman","tag-repulsion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"Kim Newman\u2019s Nightmare Movies","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/surUP-darling","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2573,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/01\/31\/maniac\/","url_meta":{"origin":6705,"position":0},"title":"Maniac","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"January 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of our 'Repulsion' theme this month we look at the repellent anti-hero of William Lustig's Maniac (1980). Comic strip review by Andrew Cheverton","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/review_maniac-large1-594x841.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/review_maniac-large1-594x841.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/review_maniac-large1-594x841.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2558,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/01\/03\/repulsion\/","url_meta":{"origin":6705,"position":1},"title":"Repulsion","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"January 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Polanski\u2019s architecture of choice is the late Victorian flat with its excesses of cornicing, cast iron radiators and sash windows. 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The film marks Rigoberto Casta\u00ed\u00b1eda's debut as a director and as such serves as a showcase of his diverse horror influences. Review by Lindsay Tudor","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3927,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/12\/20\/shackled\/","url_meta":{"origin":6705,"position":3},"title":"Shackled (Belenggu)","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"December 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Upi\u2019s first foray into psychological horror sticks to a well-trodden path, but has enough twists and turns to keep viewers interested. 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