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It pains me that no one ever seems to talk about the 2008 horror comedy The Cottage. It is a hilarious and brutal effort that begins as a slapstick caper comedy and eventually moves into full-fledged horror territory.
The film follows bumbling brothers David (Andy Serkis of the Planet of the Apes franchise) and Peter (Reece Shearsmith, The League of Gentlemen), who hatch a harebrained scheme to kidnap Tracey (Jennifer Ellison), the stepdaughter of a criminal overlord. They take their victim to a remote cabin and hold her hostage. But they have woefully underestimated Stacey’s ability to thwart their plans. Anything that can go wrong will. And before the night is over, Stacey turns the tables on her captors and all parties involved find themselves battling for their very survival.
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David and Peter have brilliant comedic energy and make the most of a screenplay rife with comic mishaps. They have something of a love/hate relationship, with Peter being gentler and more sensitive and David being louder and more abrasive than his soft-spoken sibling. Peter is a gentle soul who wasn’t cut out for a life of crime. And on that basis, he finds himself unprepared for the mess he’s gotten himself into. Much of the comedy comes from Peter and David’s lack of foresight and outright ineptitude. Their best-laid plans always seem to result in disaster.
The film serves up a multitude of chuckle-inducing comedic exchanges. In the first act, after arriving at the cabin, Peter nearly loses his mind when he discovers a moth fluttering around one of the light fixtures, demanding that David get rid of it. And when David complies, Peter flies off the handle and scolds him for killing the innocent creature. The appearance of the moth lays the groundwork for a brilliant callback later in the film. However, I won’t say anything more, so as not to lessen the effect. But suffice to say, The Cottage is filled with quirky and endearing developments that make it impossible not to warm to the bumbling crooks at the core of the narrative.
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Tracey is the final piece of the puzzle. Until the real threat arrives on the scene, she serves as the de facto antagonist, with the brothers fulfilling the role of antiheroes. Stacey has every right to be pissed off and outraged about her situation. So, you can’t really blame her for being discourteous and overly critical. But she is so surly that you can’t help but root against her and cheer for her captors. Jennifer Ellison does a bang-up job bringing Tracey to life. She has great comedic timing and fully commits to making Tracey as disagreeable as possible; taking care to insult her abductors’ ineptitude at every chance she gets. She is gifted with some brilliant one-liners, courtesy of a smart screenplay from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams. But a great deal of credit is due to Ellison for her pitch-perfect delivery and commitment to the character.
Though the laughs come more frequently than the scares do, Williams does serve up some intense chase sequences and a handful of chilling jump scares once the real antagonist arrives on the scene. Not to mention some brutal kill sequences. When the carnage begins, things get very gruesome. The Cottage is an export of the ‘00s, so various forms of viscera are on full display. However, it’s important to note that the film never reaches the level of more mean-spirited contemporaries like Hostel.
What initially beings as a darkly comedic caper picture gradually pivots into proper horror territory around the third act. The combination of wry British humor and the thematic shift from caper picture to horror film makes The Cottage feel a bit like Sean of the Dead cross pollinated with From Dusk Till Dawn. And on that basis, I’m shocked that The Cottage doesn’t have a larger fanbase.
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All things considered, The Cottage is a hilarious endeavor that delivers smartly rendered characters, plenty of gore, and a seamless transition from comedy to carnage. The film is not currently streaming for free anywhere but is available as a digital rental. And while it appears to be out of print on physical media, you can still pick up a used copy for under $10 via eBay or Amazon.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you want to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Threads @FunWithHorror.
Categorized: Editorials The Overlook Motel
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