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Courtney Howard // Film Critic
COBWEB
Rated R, 88 minutes
Directed by: Samuel Bodin
Starring: Woody Norman, Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr, Cleopatra Coleman, Luke Busey, Aleksandra Dragova
Adolescence can be a frightening time for any kid. You’re hyper-aware of the world around you – both the sweetness of youth and its menacing underpinnings. In COBWEB, those overwhelming emotions arise in the middle of a haunted house nightmare, giving them added gravitas and scare value. Though this woeful tale doesn’t quite connect logically or conceptually, director Samuel Bodin gives it just enough power to succeed through its gritty, grounded, gothic aesthetics.
Elementary school student Peter (Woody Norman) is having a tough go. One week prior to Halloween, he starts to hear scratching and muffled banging noises emanating from his bedroom wall. This thumping and bumping at all hours has led to bleary-eyed mornings where his suspiciously calm parents Carol (Lizzy Caplan) and Mark (Antony Starr, whose performance hints at the stoic and sinister) assure him it’s probably his over-active imagination playing tricks on him. Peter’s school-life isn’t much better. He’s getting bullied by bratty schoolmate Brian (Luke Busey), whose playground taunts have begun to escalate.
Things come to a head with the arrival of saintly substitute teacher Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman). She treats Peter tenderly, taking an interest in his noticeable withdrawal from regular activities, like playing during recess and engaging with classmates. She even rescues a spider in the film’s “save the cat” moment to hammer home the point she’s a good person – as if Philip Lozano’s cinematography wasn’t explicit enough, casting her in a warm glow against the bleak color palette. At night, though, Peter’s fears increase when a mysterious girl (Aleksandra Dragova) speaks to him about a local trick-or-treater who went missing years ago, and the possible connection to his shifty parents.
Unlike THE PRODIGY, THE OMEN and the litany of other “kids are pure evil” horror films, screenwriter Chris Thomas Devlin rather commendably flips convention with a good kid who is pushed to the edge. However, the story fails to find its footing as it’s completely uninterested in proper character development and motivation. While it’s thoughtful in telling this tale through Peter’s perspective, it fumbles and flails in the third act. This is particularly notable when Brian and his cousins show up simply because this film needed a bigger body count – one attached to the evil entity inside the house that is inevitably unleashed.
Though it falters narratively, visually and sonically it finds its compelling drive. Bodin demonstrates dazzling dexterity in later sequences, utilizing silhouettes to their full potential. Peter peers through the staircase slats, which act as cell bars imprisoning him, as shadows of his arguing parents loom large, projected over him. A character brandishing a butcher knife hasn’t felt so breathtakingly ominous since PSYCHO, thanks not only to the camera angles, but also to editors Kevin Greutert and Richard Riffaud’s Hitchcockian-inspired cuts and rhythmic pacing. To portray Peter’s world turning upside down, Bodin turns the camera plane clockwise when he has the advantage and counterclockwise when he’s disadvantaged. With a heavier hand, he connects the black mold rotting the family’s pumpkin patch with the buried secrets rotting the family from the inside out.
Augmenting atmosphere, production designer Alan Gilmore, art director Ivan Ranghelov and set decorator Arta Tozzi’s work builds out these characters’ creepy, unsettling environments. The insidious nature of familial secrets comes alive in the dank, dark home, from its cobweb-covered basement to its stifling upstairs chambers. Peter’s bedroom walls, covered in busy navy blue wallpaper with illustrations of air balloons, reflect his yearning for adventure, knowledge and freedom. The grandfather clock in the parents’ claustrophobic bedroom hides an ALICE IN WONDERLAND: BEHIND THE LOOKING GLASS rabbit hole of hidden truths. Phil Barrie’s sound design and the haunting score from Drum & Lace also earn top marks, further coloring in Peter’s psyche.
Yet for all the bright ideas within, our patience wanes late in the film when the monster comes out to play. The filmmakers obscure her for far too long (longer than JAWS and ALIENS) and stretch credulity as to her general existence (how does she survive and how is her hair so long, yet her nails are trimmed?). Moreover, they get the monster wrong full stop, as the real monsters here are the humans that walk in the daylight (like Peter’s parents and his bully). Though its sentiments become trapped in the frail, sticky web woven, there’s enough silk produced to admire the effort.
Grade: C+
COBWEB is now playing in theaters.
