'Honeymoon' (2014) Offers Chills, Thrills, and a Terrifying Romp Through Rural Canada
Though it takes place in Canada's scenic Muskoka region, Leigh Janiak's horror feature, Honeymoon depicts a far from idyllic getaway. The film follows newlyweds Bea (Game of Thrones's Rose Leslie) and Paul (Penny Dreadful's Harry Treadaway) from the time they arrive at Bea's childhood cabin in the woods for their honeymoon to their rather, well, supernatural end.
Let's just say that the hot and heavy honeymoon sexiness is quickly replaced by strange happenings, possessed young wives, and unattractive skin conditions.
I think she forgot their safe word
After Paul discovers Bea sleepwalking one night, she begins to behave strangely, until Paul comes to believe that she might have been attacked by someone (or something) in the woods that night.
Honeymoon stands quite strongly as a genre-horror film, replete with chilling imagery and gruesome gore, including a particularly unappetizing scene in which an object is extricated from a vagina that most likely didn't belong up there in the first place.
Where Janiak's film rises above genre restrictions and conventions is in its depiction of a new marriage, which is in turn enriched by the talent of Janiak's two leads, Leslie and Treadaway. These young British actors manage to convey all the tender nuances of a relationship in only the few short clips of their chracters' wedding video shown in the film's opening. This is no easy feat, seeing as horror films often attempt to set up relationships in about five minutes before blugeoning every major character to death while hoping the audience feels somewhat sympathetic. Bea and Paul's easiness with each other, and their clear reliance on each other's presence and support makes it infinitely harder to watch as their marriage is threatened by the forces surrounding Bea's cottage.
Pictured: Two Better-Than-Average-Looking People Just Doing Some Baking
Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway have both proven their abilities as young actors on their respective television shows, but Honeymoon demonstrates that these two can hold down a feature film on their own, as Janiak's film ultimately becomes a chamber drama focusing on two characters and their difficulties navigating the new terrain of marriage.
Cinematographer Kyle Klutz should also be applauded for his contribution to the film, as Honeymoon looks quite unlike most low-to-moderate budgeted horror films, but has the sleekness and attention to detail present in the best (and often absent in the most expensive) films of the genre.
~*~*~*Glamour Shot~*~*~*
Janiak's film, though incredibly precise in many ways, does lose its structure as its run-time comes to an end. The ending is very intentionally left ambiguous, but because of the smallness of the film's cast and the narrowness of its plot, this ambiguity does not leave the audience wanting more, but leaves them asking why they spent their last 90 minutes absorbed in the film. Though Leslie and Treadaway do offer up some incredibly touching and remarkably three-dimensional scenes, their acting chops fail to lift the film out of the confused nothingness into which it dissolves.
Nevertheless, Honeymoon is a film that will shake even the staunchest horror film lover, and will spook every hopeless romantic who stumbles into its path.
This is no fairytale honeymoon, and it definitely doesn't end happily ever after.
Though they do stumble on quite a few frog princes along the way.
I give this film 3.5/5 Unnecessary Vagina Accoutrements
