vWv124's Tiny Beam of Light

**Please note that the odd comment in this particular blog may cause offense!**

First off, though I love horror movies I’m not that keen on the torture horror sub-genre and ‘Mom & Dad’ certainly tip toes into this territory. It also brings in a couple of additional depraved elements to make the audience squirm. You lads out there reading this… well you won’t be wacking off any time soon after you watch this – if you see this film you’ll know exactly which sequence I’m talking about!

The film is also very British, which is refreshing, kind of like an episode of ‘Eastenders’ gone wrong (or right) with a dose of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.  It’s like a perverted sitcom in a way. For you Brits out there think the comedy show ‘My Family’ with meat hooks and needles with about the same amount of comedy i.e. none. (Actually if ‘My Family’ was more like ‘Mum & Dad’, I might actually watch it once in a while.)

The setup? A family living near, and working at, Heathrow airport trick foreign workers to come home with them, where they are imprisoned and tortured. It definitely pushes the yuck button but without building any real tension or suspense. Olga Fedori is convincing in the lead role as the victim we follow and Perry Benson (who I last saw in Somers Town – which I liked by the way) is as good as ever, particularly vile and nasty here.

One of the first films out of the London Microwave film scheme it was shot in 17 days on a shoestring. It is also the first UK same day multi-platform release:  cinema, DVD, Sky Box Office and download – all on Boxing Day. So you can take your choice, maybe as an antidote to too much sugary viewing on Christmas Day or just to shock your Granny. (It does have a very black Christmasy element to it.)

So to rip off a quote by Mr Perry Benson himself: this is the drum and bass of the horror genre. Imperfect but worth a look if you’re a fan.