Andy Serkis and Reece Shearsmith star as David and Peter, a pair of bumbling brothers who each try to fulfill their dreams--David wants to buy a boat and literally sail out of the criminal life; while Peter just wants to buy out David’s half of their deceased mother’s house--by kidnapping Tracey (Jennifer Ellison) the grown daughter of a local mob boss. Kidnapping the daughter of a mob boss is probably not the smartest in the pantheon of ideas, but David has enlisted the help of his hen-pecked, nervous-Nellie brother, who’s not involved in the shady underworld of crime, and is afraid of his own shadow. And David has also made the mistake of trusting Andrew (Steven O’Donnell), Tracey’s stepbrother, who’s not exactly the brightest bulb in the pack--and you can see that the chances of success for this little escapade are slim to none.
While the actual kidnapping itself goes off without a hitch, things quickly go downhill when an infuriated Tracey wakes up and beats the hapless Peter to a pulp (all while she’s still bound and gagged, mind you). To say that Tracey isn’t your typical damsel in distress is putting it very mildly. The fearless young woman curses like a sailor when she’s not threatening her abductors, and Ellison pulls off her role as the bitchy little mob brat with great aplomb. Shearsmith is also superb as the overly sensitive Peter, while Serkis--best known for giving life to Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings films--is marvelous as the jaded gangster looking for an easy way out of the mob life.
I wasn’t sure at first if I should put The Cottage in the comedy section, because it’s obviously a flat-out laugh riot that doesn’t take itself too seriously right from the get-go (in the opening title animation, instead of the traditional bat, we see a moth flying across a moon-lit night sky--which sets up a running joke for later on). But, The Cottage soon turns into an all-out horror film as the kidnappers and their "victim" run into the typical back-woods psycho killer. But what sets this film apart from, say, Wolf Creek is that the humor carries over into the horror section, which still becomes gorily brutal in its depiction of the killer’s previous crimes.
Non-horror fans may want to run screaming from the room once these scenes kick in. But horror movie fans may well enjoy the humorous slant on what has become a horror film staple: the rural-based psychotic killer who stalks unwary travelers who arrive at his abode. The great acting makes you invested enough in the characters, while still laughing at the in-jokes that are sprinkled throughout the film (Doug Bradley--Pinhead from the Hellraiser films--has a funny cameo as a local). The Cottage would make for a great Halloween party viewing by more adventurous horror film buffs (after the kiddies are asleep) who don’t mind enjoying a good laugh.
--SF
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