Let me put it this way: Although I didn’t dig Unwelcome, I have friends—MANY friends who will love this blended mix of Chucky, Leprechaun and Home Invasion Horror and more. Mind you, my friends will be laughing their asses off. But that counts as enjoyment, right?
Like all stories that involve young families moving into houses that seem too good to be true, UNWELCOME stars Hannah John-Kamen and Douglas Booth as a couple who escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland.
Sounds good so far!
But their bucolic ideal has a major catch: it turns out that murderous goblins inhabit the adjacent forest. This is where my cackling genre fans friends come in – the little leprechaun/goblin thingies are more funny than scary – more camp than killer.
Director Jon Wright and writer Mark Stay were inspired by films such as Gremlins and Straw Dogs and the terrifying concept of a home invasion, during which someone (or something) is in your home and there’s nothing you can do about it. Director Jon Wright describes Unwelcome’s take on the genre as “a horror movie as well as a creature feature. It’s undoubtedly got some humor in it and has a lightness of touch…It never goes to a morbid or depressing place. As a movie, it’s always entertaining but it can also be extremely violent”.
I am a fan of several years now of cast members such as Hannah John-Kamen and Colm Meany. And the setting was perfect.
Unwelcome Opened in Theatres March 8th and On Demand/Digital March 14th
