FrightFest Movie Haiku - The Roost

www.theroostmovie.com


Dir: Ti West


Cast: Tom Noonan, Wil Horneff, Karl Jacob, John Speredakos


Horror host welcomes

what will teens find in the barn

bats, bats, lots of bats


The Roost starts will our horror-host (Noonan) introducing this tale of terror. There's a bunch of kids in the middle of nowhere who stumble across a large deserted barn... except the barn isn't as empty as they first thought. It has bats. Lots of bats. On paper this doesn’t much sound like being a winner, but Ian kept assuring me that this was one of the finds of the year and really delivered the goods in the shock department. But it didn’t quite live up to its hype and afterwards even Ian had to concede that it hadn’t played so well up on the big screen (its biggest audience to date, so we were told). The limitations – again due to budget – are achingly obvious, with the bats failing to emit the terror that is required from such a story, and any supposed shocks being too well telegraphed. The main characters are far too bland, and it perhaps tells you something when the horror-host actually has to rewind the film at one point because the two main leads are crying too much! However, there are positives which suggest that Ti West may yet have a bright future. The pacing is slow and steady, allowing the atmosphere to build nicely, and the shots, often using long takes, are well composed, especially during the scenes when the guys first explore the barn. The music in the film also met with universal praise, and it was just a shame that after such a promising build up that The Roost was unable to give us the pay off that we all wanted - and expected.

soulmining rating: ***