Offspring (2009)

October 10, 2024 9:10 AM

[TRAILER] A feral, cave-dwelling family of cannibalistic savages prowls the woods near Dead River, Maine. The local sheriff thought he had killed them off ten years ago -- But somehow the clan survived. To breed. To hunt. To kill and eat. And now the peaceful residents of this isolated town are fighting for their lives. Based on the novel by Jack Ketchum. This film was followed later by The Woman and Darlin'.

Starring Pollyanna McIntosh, Art Hindle, Amy Hargreaves, Ahna Tessler.

Directed by Andrew van den Houten. Screenplay by Jack Ketchum, based on his novel of the same name. Produced by Andrew van den Houten, Robert Tonino for Modernciné. Cinematography by William M. Miller. Music by Ryan Shore.

20% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Arrow Player and Screambox. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (1 comment total)

This was cheap and ugly. My main takeaway is that Pollyanna McIntosh is in fact doing great work here, but the movie nearly buries it, such that you have to really give Lucky McKee a lot of credit for recognizing how great she is in this and for the vision he had to collaborate with her on the far, far superior pseudo-sequel The Woman.

This film struggles a lot in the early going, often because of the low budget, clunky direction, and unsure acting. But more than anything, the problem comes from Jack Ketchum's attempts to write banter, which are just awful.

It's close to unwatchable until the last act when the cannibal family finally gets to stay front and center. They're like a not-cartoonish version of the hill people from The Hills Have Eyes. At that point, McIntosh goes to work and the guy playing the horrifically unlikable abusive ex is a suitable foil.

Let's make it clear though that I am damning with faint praise. A huge improvement in the last 20 minutes is enough to make this a 2, maybe 2.5 star out of five movie. It was that far in the hole.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:14 AM on October 10, 2024 [1 favorite]