Son   Starring: Emile Hirsch, Andi Matichak and Luke David Blumm Distributor: Acorn Media International RRP: £19.99 AB2046 5036193020469 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 11 October 2021

This is the UK Blu-ray debut of the Acorn Media International Shudder Original Exclusive production of Son. Young mum Laura lives with her placid, quiet and loving eight-year-old son David. After a cloudy past, everything seems tranquil and normal – that is until one night she is shocked and horrified to find a number of sinister strangers surrounding his bed. Frantically, she calls the police, who find nothing amiss and no sign of forced entry. Everyone believes she has imagined the whole episode – particularly when it is revealed she escaped from captivity and afterwards spent time in a psychiatric facility. Paul, a police detective, appears to be the only one on-side; her only solace. But is he really her friend? The real question is does the problem lie with Laura or her seemingly innocuous little boy David...?

This horror film plays the smart trick of having the key protagonist (and so the viewer) off and running from the opening scene, as she gives birth in her car, obviously desperate to escape the area and a horrific past. When, eight years later everything appears to have calmed down, it is to suddenly spring a shock moment, which to all intents and purposes must be a supernatural apparition. These nice little scenes are always going to create more chills than any blood and gore thrown at the screen. Talking of which… The main revelation is revealed in the promotional blurb, so I feel no remorse in mentioning it here. The benevolent boy needs human flesh to survive and turns cannibalistic to obtain it. Strangely, it is not the sight of the blood-soaked boy or a half-eaten corpse that is the most disturbing aspect of this change. Instead, it is the low guttural obscenities and demands made to his mother through a closed door when she initially decides to deprive him of a new victim. This constant metamorphosis is handled really well, as when it first begins his quick degeneration into agony complete with raw wounds opening up all over his face and body confounds the hospital staff.

Another nice touch is that everyone looks suspicious, so even cameo and bit-parts have you unsure as to who might be untrustworthy and who is just curious. I won’t reveal who David’s father turns out to be, but there is a lovely twist at the end which you don’t see coming. The acting on the whole is pretty good, and I’m particularly impressed by Luke David Blumm as David and his enthusiasm for the part (and particularly horror films) on the extras. Combined writer/directors invariably prove to be a revelation or a flop. In this case, it’s far from being a classic, but Ivan Kavanagh has created an enjoyable film with some unexpected turns. Extras consist of short comments about the film by the three main actors, and a few minor deleted scenes.

8

Ty Power