The Quiet Ones released on August 19 from LionsGate.
Hammer Film Productions returns with another eerie offering. A university professor (Jared Harris), energized by the prospect of debunking and explaining the paranormal, collects some of his students to work with patient Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke), a young woman believed to be possessed or haunted.
Camera operator Brian McNeil (Sam Claflin) becomes the eyes of the audience, documenting the experiment and becoming involved in the madness, but also literally sharing his point of view via faux 16mm footage. The film flits constantly between the omniscient camera and Brian’s recording, effectively bringing “found footage” elements to the film without wholly surrendering to that aesthetic.
The group retreats to a large rural house to conduct their tests in a controlled environment. As they work with Jane to try to unlock the secret to what is tormenting her, more and more bizarre and paranormal events occur which defy rational explanation. Some of the best scares occur when the house’s lights go out, forcing the group to navigate and investigate noises throughout the creepy house using only the camera’s spotlight to pierce the darkness.
Conflict and division among the team, particularly conflicting love interests, ensuing jealousy, and disagreement on how to perform treatment, also threaten to derail the experiment. Jane is an appropriately complex character, and audience both fears her and fears on her behalf, hoping for her rescue.
I really like Jared Harris, and it was his presence which primarily interested me in the film. As the “adult” among a group of young people, he is quickly established as the embodiment of maturity and control, so we know early on that something will probably happen to topple that force of constancy.
The film continues Hammer’s modern trend of somewhat elegant, classy horror films that have defined their recent revival, but I’d really like to see them embrace their zanier side again and bring back some of that 60’s and 70’s wildness that made them legendary. This feels more at how with contemporary — and in many cases better — films like The Haunting In Connecticut.
THE PACKAGE
Lions Gate brings The Quiet Ones to Blu-ray in a pretty nice looking package with some decent extras. An HD UV digital copy is also included. My copy also came with a slipcase with identical cover art.
Special Features
Audio Commentary with Director/Co-Writer John Pogue and Producer Tobin Armbrust.
A quite detailed scene buy scene breakdown of the making of the film. Great conversational track with both speakers offering plenty of information.
“Welcome To The Experiment: The Making Of The Quiet Ones” (34:53)
A multi-chapter interview-based featurette, intercut with scenes from the film and behind-the-scenes footage.
An Ominous Opening (8:24)
A look at how the opening title sequence, which combines images of eerie woodcut prints and film editing, was conceived and crafted.
Deleted Scenes (12:16)
Pretty forgettable stuff. No commentary is included, but it’s easy to see why these rather dull scenes got cut or trimmed. The most notable one is a visually arresting but possibly seizure-inducing extended take featuring the strobe-like spinning light used in Jane’s sessions.
Outtakes (3:29)
Jared Harris gets bleeped a lot.
Promotional Trailers (8:12)
The disc also includes trailers for Lions Gate titles The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Divergent, The Possession, and Now You See Me, plus an ad for EPIX HD.
Like the last Hammer offering, The Woman In Black, this film feel like more of an eerie supernatural drama than a full-fledged horror film. I like it overall but am disappointed to see the Hammer, a legendary horror studio renowned for their punchier and more exploitative approach, still playing in the world of PG-13. You can see where they pulled their punches to get a friendlier rating. The commentary goes into some of the ways that they had to trim the film purely for ratings purposes, and it’s too bad, because it sounds like there was a better film left on the cutting room floor. I understand that studios try to bring a broad audience into theaters, but when it comes to Blu-ray releases there’s really no reason we should be denied the director’s vision.
A/V Out.
Get it at Amazon:
The Quiet Ones — [Blu-Ray] | DVD | [Instant]
