Tales From the Lodge review: What do zombies, a sex crazed demon, a cabin in the woods, David from The Lost Boys, and quiche have in common? They all feature in Abigail Blackmore’s feature film Tales From the Lodge.
Tales From the Lodge
Five old university friends, plus the new girlfriend of one of the group, gather together to scatter the ashes of their departed friend Jonesy at his old cabin in the woods. Whilst there, they try to scare one another with tales of the macabre, before the events of their trip take an even more sinister turn.
If you have to classify Tales From the Lodge, the easiest way given its name would be as an anthology. That would still be misleading however, as this is quite unlike any anthology you’ll likely see. Typically an anthology film is a series of short films or stories wrapped up within another one which tops, tails and connects them. This overarching story rarely compelling and is also rather short, barely as long as the stories it is connecting. Tales From the Lodge differs as the overarching story takes up the majority of the screen time. It’s much more of a normal horror film, but one that is punctuated by several campfire tales.
Interestingly, each of these campfire-style tales not only covers a different brand of horror but was actually directed by the actor whose character is telling the story. Blackmore oversaw each story being brought to life and as such the tone is maintained. By using different personalities the film is rewarded with differing styles, helping reinforce that the stories are from different characters. These stories are wildly varied, each one having their merits, but it is Johnny Vegas‘ character Russell’s tale, featuring zombies and Keifer Sutherland’s The Lost Boys character, that really stands out. Trust me, you’ll never see the character of David the same way again.
Tales From the Lodge
The main plot of the film is the real star; the whole film is well written, but this tale is especially clever. There’s some well-written characters, and everyone feels like someone you know. Blackmore manages the near impossible, creating characters in a horror film that are tangibly real. The decision to ‘age up’ the traditional cabin in the woods characters pays off in dividends. It’s so refreshing to see these kind of folks in the genre and it opens up a whole new load of possibilities for other filmmakers. In terms of tone, Blackmore skews more towards good old British humour than horror, but manages to strike a balance so that the film doesn’t dissolve into silliness.
Tales From the Lodge is a super clever hybrid of comedy and horror, thriller and anthology. Destined to be a future British comedy classic, Tales From the Lodge delights and deceives with wonderful and unexpected results.
Tales From the Lodge was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019.
