The Boy

The Boy

Horror movies…a genre that has really struggled in the last couple of years.

I grew up loving a good horror film, one that made you suffer at night as a child, one that as I grew up I still remembered how I felt whilst watching for the first time, but these are becoming few and far between.  The one thing the horror genre really struggles with is a decent ending….99% of all the horror films I have watched recently, I would have been better leaving with 10 minutes to go as the final few minutes ruin the fairly decent previous 90.  That being said, there were also a couple I could have done with leaving 10 minutes into the film (looking at you “It Follows”)

I am still a fan of the genre, even with it’s over use of annoying jump scare, obvious plot holes and terrible acting, but I am slowly becoming less interested.  Dear Jeremy (youtube) makes a fantastic point about the whole horror genre, but one that will never be taken seriously

The Boy has a creepy, dark premise.  An American nanny is hired by an aging couple who live in a remote stately home to look after their son whilst they go on holiday.  Upon meeting their son, Brahms, she is shocked to find that he is actually a porcelain doll with a strict set of 10 rules that must be adhered to.  So, with obvious thoughts passing to the recent Annabelle, or earlier days of Child’s Play, one would expect a murderous spree of a tiny mannequin.  This is where The Boy stands out.  Is the doll actually possessed? Alive? Or are the sudden relocations and slight head movements down to an external source? 

I was taken in by the surroundings and dark sub plot (the reasons behind why the parents are transfixed by a porcelain son, yet fully aware that what it actually is).  The location feels remote, yet also comfortable.  There are a couple of moments that really brought tingles like Brahms sitting up on the bed with the list of rules yet the night before he had been tucked into bed.

Then, the final 10 minutes happened

Low budget and fun, The Boy is fun enough but nothing stand out and something that will not be remembered by the time you get home from the cinema.