Reviewed by Melissa Antoinette Garza
Upon seeing the trailer for The Quiet Ones, I wasn’t very compelled to see it. If not for Jared Harris portraying the lead character and Hammer films producing it, I most likely would have never wasted my time. Hammer Films are respected by all true horror fans as it has been producing British classics and exploitation horror gems since the 1950s.
Prior to watching The Quiet Ones, I hadn’t any idea it was based on “true events.” I don’t recall the trailer mentioning it, however the statement used all-to-often in horror films flashed upon the screen. Throughout the movie, I wondered how grounded in reality the story was. After all, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is based on ‘true events’ however the plot is far different and more sinister than the story of the man it is based on: Ed Gein. It’s odd that two of the best horror movies of all time, Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are both inspired by the same event yet as different as movies can be within the genre.
So, whether it’s The Exorcist, The Burning, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Conjuring, The Hills Have Eyes, or any other production claiming to be rooted in truth, I take the notion with a grain of salt and always look to find the actual story after watching the fictional account.
The film begins in 1974 and follows Professor Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris) investigating the cause of what appear to be the possession of Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke). Coupland “rescues” Jane from an institution and therefore, Jane feels compelled to do whatever Joseph tells her to, even when it results in near-death consequences.
Coupland puts together a team including an oversexed, barely helpful, snide wench Krissi (Erin Richards), her equally oversexed, barely helpful snide douche boyfriend Harry (Rory Fleck-Byrne) and Brian (Sam Claflin) a cameraman with a heart of gold who only wants to help the poor girl. Even when the school cuts funding for the research the group continues. Brian slowly becomes convinced that Coupland and the rest of the team are exploiting Jane and wants to bring her to real doctors. It is only when he stabs a doll Jane has been holding which causes her to throw up blood despite not seeing what he had just done, which makes him think whatever they’re facing is beyond modern medicine.
Typically, I don’t mind films that have a slow pace as long as the focus is on building both character depth and tension for the scenes designed to terrify. Neither occur here. The main players are just boring archetypes of characters designed to appear from the 70s. There aren’t any scares whatsoever and the CGI is in-between that used for Food Fight and any generic ScyFy film. There is one scene that seems to be a direct rip-off of The Haunting in Connecticut where the possessed just throws up a strange long snake.
Overall, this movie just lacked in every conceivable way. Where The Conjuring did everything right, this movie failed in the exact same areas. The sad thing is that after the movie, I researched the true story and had the filmmakers followed that plot, there really could have been a great story.
From what I could find out, its seems that in 1972 there was a study conducted called The Philip Experiment. In Canada, a group of curious individuals under the guide of a Poltergeist expert Dr. A.R.G. Owen attempted to create a ghost to judge how much the imagination of those involved swayed the actions and reactions of any spirit. They created the name Philip Aylesford and designed a detailed back story about the man’s life and untimely death. Then they attempted to contact this fictional character. Not only did they receive results that were similar to those conducted in other seances but aspects of the study still remain unsolved. For one, the table moved across the room without anyone touching it. At times, it even seemed to chase the participants. Second, the ghost answered to questions by making noises as if really Philip. It was never discovered whether the manifestation was faked, a spirit pretending to be Philip, or if the original hypothesis was true: that somehow our minds have the ability to create a reality. That’s a film, I’d love to see.
In the end, I wouldn’t recommend The Quiet Ones. This style has been done to death and has been done much better. Though, it’s always nice to see a horror production that isn’t going down the road of found-footage, it needs more than just that going for it. Harris, as always was great in his role, but even that wasn’t well-defined by the script. Mostly, the Professor seemed like a self-serving jackass, but then other times, he seemed driven but compassionate. There’s nothing wrong with a character having duality, but it needs to be more defined than seemingly a split-personality taking momentary control without explanation.
The only thing positive coming from the movie is discovering this Canadian test I had never heard of before.
Scared Stiff Rating: 3/10
