Year of release- 2013
Director- Lawrie Brewster
Stars - David Schofield, Alexandra Nicole Hulme, Euan Douglas
The film follows James Findlay, a schoolteacher who inherits
a vast Scottish mansion (Ardgour House as it is known in real life) after the
death of his mother. After receiving news that he has been bequeathed the
mansion James is then given a letter from his mother telling him to never visit
said location. If his mother had not wanted him to visit the location, why the
hell did she leave it to him in her will?! Of course James travels to the
remote mansion and begins having fragmented memories of horrible events from
his childhood there, along with nightmares, and visions of The Owlman which is
generally interpreted as representing the ancient Canaanite god Moloch,
why people have chosen to see The Owlman as Moloch is beyond me however as the
origins of Moloch come from the Middle East, and not Gaelic folklore in
Northern Scotland which happens to be where this film is set.
The references to Moloch also don’t make sense when
you consider that classical representations of Moloch picture him as a Bull
like creature, not a fucking Owl. So unless you prefer the internet conspiracy theory
version of Moloch this film has got some major symbolism issues. James eventually
meets a young woman called Evie who he forms a close friendship with, which
begins at times throughout the film to burgeon into a near cringe worthy love
interest. The two eventually try and unravel the dark secrets of the mansion leading
to poor James going through hell as his past is uncovered.
This film was released as Lord Of Tears in 2013, however it was then re-released as The Owlman in 2016, it is under the
latter title that I watched the film. It is also not to be confused with the
2009 Tim Roth TV film Skellig: The Owl
Man, which is actually fairly good, and probably worth a watch.
I will not deny that at certain times in this film there
was genuine, taught gothic atmosphere, furthermore the cinematography is generally
very good, which helps show off the stunning Scottish landscapes. Sadly, that
is all the positive things I have to say about this film. This film really does
try to be something more than just another cheap horror film, sadly that never
comes to volition. The acting is terribly poor, the audio throughout the film
is constantly at a level of student film quality – i.e crap. The film also uses
a large amount of royalty free horror soundbites and sound effects that are so
over used that they seem cringe worthy in a creepypasta
reading let alone a feature film. The scrip is also far from what it should be
for a film trying to be so aspirational.
The effects thankfully do not include CGI, so this film gets a pass on my wroth for that one. However, the practical effects that are used are a little strange. At a distance the effects used to create The Owlman are very effective, and the long shots of The Owlman are genuinely a little unsettling. On closer inspection of The Owlman however, the complete lack of articulation and general lack of movement, along with an unmoving glassy stare make this ‘terrifying creature’ look like someone left the Owl mask from Stage Fright (1987) in bad storm then stuffed it with road kill, before trying to cosplay as Slender Man in it. Overall this film deserves something for effort as budget was clearly an issue on this film, however that doesn’t excuse this from being an overly long (100 minutes) boring horror film that would be perfectly respectable as student film, but not a feature length film marketed multiple times in multiples countries. I give Lord of Tears/The Owlman 3.5/10, having good intentions doesn’t stop this film from being rife with problems and boredom.
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