SHE CAME FROM THE WOODS – Another film seemingly besotted with the eighties, SCFTW is set in archetypal slasher territory, a woodland summer camp by a lake. To its credit, it leaves the hocky masks alone and pitches a backstory about an undead witch, now poised to possess and wreak the usual havoc. I wasn’t that invested at first – the pacing / atmosphere felt just a little bit jarring and I didn’t like the humour, but after a while they put the wisecracks away and ramped it up with the sudden appearance of a gore-crazed gaggle of possessed scouts. Not perfect, and I’ve certainly seen more creative riffs on the old stuff, but enjoyable enough in the end.
THE CLEANING LADY – Alice (Alexis Kendra) is a well-to-do thirty something with a plush pad and a problem relationship. She fumbles her affair but rallies by befriending the new cleaner, vulnerable-seeming Shelly. There’s a slight Pygmalion-flavour to the way they relate, with patronising and oblivious Alice at one point even offering to show burns-victim Shelley how to apply make-up (!), but as this is a horror film I guess we all know that it won’t be long before the tables are turned and the power dynamic viciously redrawn. ‘The Cleaning Lady’ is a pretty effective psychological horror thriller that stays within the confines of a certain kind of template but plays it well. It makes for surprisingly uncomfortable viewing when it delves into Shelly’s dark past, with tropes and imagery straight out of a more exploitative kind of flick, although its latter half and conclusion are a bit more typical. It works best when it’s brewing unease during its first hour, and most of this is down to Rachel Alig, who for my money gives an absolutely riveting performance as mousy but menacing Shelly. Well worth checking out. From Jon Knautz, director of ‘The Shrine’ and ‘Goddess Of Love’.
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