Low-budget horror films; the easiest type of film to make and yet the hardest of all to make well. There are, as Wes Craven observed and had great fun with, rules that horror films must follow. Follow too many and the whole thing descends into farce (like My Bloody Valentine 3D which I saw last month) but put too few in and the audience won't follow you where you're trying to lead them. It's a difficult balancing act, especially for a first-time director. What Hush does well is to put in just enough schlock and horror convention- you never see the bad guy's face, for example, and the girl suddenly hammering on the window makes you jump out of your seat- but it retains enough intelligence to elevate it above your typical fare. And so when the bad guy dies and then doesn't spring back to life and die again three or four more times, it feels a bit weird. It's certainly right and commendable, but a bit disorientating- like a post-match interview where a player quotes Proust.
The opening scenes have a lot of back-story to cram in and so we endure rather forced conversation between William Ash (impressive as Zakes- by the way, Zakes? That's just bizarre) and Christine Bottomley (his disillusioned girlfriend Beth). It's a blatant exposition but in a first time writer-director I'm not fussed, he'll sort that no bother. Against the backdrop of their relationship breakdown and misguidedly interfering local policemen (when will they learn to trust the kids?) they stumble upon a trafficking ring with Beth being kidnapped by them. Obviously the story is nothing to write home about but it's okay. It's relatively plausible anyway.
The tension builds pretty well- dark rainy nights with faceless men chasing you to the accompaniment of bass-heavy music always do that- and there are a nice couple of twists and surprises with some pretty gory incidents. It never verges into self-parody and doesn't overplay it's hand, the Director does just enough of everything to be effective. It's pretty well measured and even if it's not really my cup of tea, it's impressive and economical for what it is.
If only the handheld camera used for much of the opening fifty minutes would have held still or focused upon what we were hearing I'd have loved it. 7/10, keep your eye on Tonderai and Ash.
