HOKUM Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Damian McCarthy
Stars: Adam Scott, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Peter Coonan, Will O’Connell, Brendan Conroy, Austin Amelio, Ezra Carlisle.
An author suffering from writer’s block checks into the creepiest haunted hotel this side of the Overlook in this creepy, claustrophobic horror film from Irish writer/director Damian McCarthy (Oddity, etc).
Misanthropic and alcoholic US author Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott, from tv’s Parks And Recreation, etc) has come to Ireland to spread the ashes of his late parents at a tree that was one of their favourite spots from their honeymoon. Bauman is still haunted by a past tragedy and is having visions of his dead mother. He is also trying to write the final chapter of his latest novel about a conquistador on an epic treasure hunt in the desert.
He flies to Ireland and checks into the Bilberry Woods Hotel. He is abrupt and dismissive of the staff, especially Alby (Will O’Connell, from tv series Game Of Thrones, etc), who repeatedly asks him to read his manuscript and provide some feedback. Hotel employee Fiona (Florence Ordesh, from The Hard Hit, etc) gives Bauman a quick lesson in local lore about witchcraft and informs him that the honeymoon suite has been closed for years as it is supposedly haunted by a Cailleach (an Irish ghost).
Soon after Bauman is found hanging in his room but is rescued by Fiona who has suspected something was wrong. After being released from the hospital Bauman returns to the hotel to thank Fiona, only to learn that she has gone missing. He also meets a dishevelled local named Jerry (David Wilmot, recently seen in Hamnet, etc), who frequents the local forest and has a fondness for drink and magic mushrooms. Jerry’s own wife died under suspicious circumstances several years earlier and he suspects that the hotel was somehow responsible.
The hotel is shutting down for the season and its staff are departing. With Jerry’s help Bauman sneaks into the closed off honeymoon suite, which is when the film delves into spooky territory.
Hokum is McCarthy’s third film and while he establishes an air of uneasiness throughout, he leans into the tropes of the genre and the influences of other, superior, horror films are at times obvious. His film deals with themes of guilt, grief, trauma, loneliness and the supernatural, fertile territory for a horror film. The first act of the film gives it much of its emotional heft before it drifts off into more cliched horror territory. McCarthy eschews the usual gore and buckets of blood of the genre, aiming for more subtle horror with spooky visuals and jump scares.
McCarthy establishes a quiet sense of dread and claustrophobia which effectively plays out in the cramped hallways of the hotel and, in particular, a dead waiter which leads to the bowels of the place. There is some atmospheric cinematography from McCarthy’s regular collaborator Colm Hogan which adds to the unsettling mood, as does the effective sound design.
Better known for his comedic roles Scott is cast against type here as the unlikeable protagonist, but he delivers a solid performance, bringing an edgy quality to his Bauman, while also tapping into his vulnerability and fears. Wilmot brings some touches of eccentric humour to his role as Jerry, the hermit, and Ordesh is fine as the more sympathetic Fiona.
★★★
