Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: S.K. Dale, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
You don’t often get a combination like this: a horror movie that glues you to your seat, even though the frightening factors are present. Be cautious: it may be a thrill ride, but it comes with a tag of graphic violence and language.
Despite its icy backdrop, this skillfully designed psychosexual thriller engrosses from the start. Emma (Megan Fox, Transformers, Rogue) is unhappy in her marriage to Mark (Eoin Macken), confused, and has recently ended an extramarital affair with Tom (Aml Ameen).
As part of a sick revenge plot, Emma is left handcuffed to her dead husband. Unable to set herself free, she has to survive as two killers arrive to finish her off. Till Death – part murder-mystery and part home invasion film – is straightforward, a little puerile at times, but a thoroughly absorbing, well-paced, edge-of-your-seat whodunit.
With his feature debut, director Scott Dale delivers a polished genre offering, written by Jason Carvey with shrewd ingenuity.
Fox sharpens her chiller strokes with stunning results. It’s more than just a feminine tale of fortitude and reprisal through a predictable story: a lovely, rich woman – who against the odds – attempts to sever ties with a controlling, toxic and powerful man. Statuesque and muscular, Fox displays ingenuity once the predatory killers circle her lakeside property. Ahead is a distressing endurance battle as she bargains for added salvation, relying on nothing but her savvy and spontaneous responses to the most limited of resources within her grasp.
Fox’s performance gradually matures, growing alongside the complexities of Emma’s perilous situation. Just when you’re ready to write her off, she (deservedly) reclaims your attention. Cleverly staged, this tense sci-fi horror shows why survival is the best revenge.
We have three DVDs of Till Death to give away if you correctly tell us who wrote the screenplay? Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 23 August 2021. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 24 August 2021.