The Loved Ones (2009); horror thriller suspense comedy drama film review

Poster artwork for the horror thriller suspense comedy drama film The Loved Ones.

Deranged Desires by Linh

Australian cinema has stepped into darker and more twisted territory with The Loved Ones giving horror genre fans a taste of torture-porn with a jab of comedy. In director/writer Sean Byrne’s feature film debut, there is a concoction of Brian De Palma’s Carrie, director Steven Scheil’s Mum and Dad, John Hughes’s 1980s teen comedy dramas, and Eli Roth’s gory Hostel, with some scenes so ghastly it may cause distress. Despite the disturbing scenes, The Loved Ones is fabulously paced for suspense and horrific thrills that send shudders down the spine, especially during the electric drill moment.

PINK PRINCESS: Lola (Robin McLeavy) tries on her pink power prom dress in the film The Loved Ones. Image: Madman Entertainment.

The film opens six months earlier, when Brent (Xavier Samuel) is driving his Dad home when he swerves to avoid a blood-covered youth, and crashes the car into a tree. Fast forward to the current day and we see Brent accosted by the high school outcast Lola (Robin McLeavy), who asks him to be her date for the school dance. Brent has already asked Holly (Victoria Thaine) and declines Lola’s invitation.  Lola instantly appears hurt by Brent’s rejection and her jealousy of Holly leads to anger. The events leading up to the night of the school dance escalates into a series of intense and horrific torture involving a syringe, a hammer, knives/cutlery, guns and an electric drill. Lola’s crush on Brent turns deadly as the film progresses.

TORTURE TIME: Brent (Xavier Samuel) awaits his next challenge in enduring painful torture in the film The Loved Ones. Image: Madman Entertainment.

The Loved Ones is not the usual formulaic horror film despite depicting elements that are familiar to the horror genre. It has strong multi-faceted character roles, an infectious soundtrack, references to other horror films and teen prom comedy dramas. The film presents its characters as interconnected to each other and to the story, through parallels of losing a loved one, manipulating/hurting or meeting a loved one. The all-Australian cast do an excellent job in bringing fear and panic to life on the screen, while keeping the audience repulsed but delighted.

PROM PALS: Lola (Robin McLeavy) is delighted to finally have Brent (Xavier Samuel) as her prom partner in the film The Loved Ones. Image: Madman Entertainment.

Xavier Samuel (Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Anonymous) is the handsome young hero, Brent, who feels guilt and grief from losing his Dad in a car accident and he spends his time listening to heavy hardcore metal music. Brent listens to loud metal music and smokes pot to block out the emotional pain, but this pain is externalised as physical and real after his abduction and during his torture. Samuel’s character is muted and tied to a chair for most of the film, and he does a convincing job of conveying all the terror and pain of a torture victim with his facial expressions, his eyes and the occasional bloodcurdling scream.

The standout performance is from Robin McLeavy as the demented and bloodlusty Lola. A social misfit and loner, Lola has a disturbing and dark history of luring males who have spurned her, to her Daddy’s house and subjecting them to all forms of torture, even turning some into mindless zombies that are kept in an underground room inside the house. McLeavy is brilliantly effective as Lola, the wildly unhinged and bratty teenager, who becomes more psychotic and brazen throughout the film. McLeavy has created a memorable monstrous feminine of the horror genre, providing a twist in the traditional gender roles of horror films where the empowered woman becomes a killer rather than the victim.

HERO'S HOPE: Holly (Victoria Thaine) hits the road in search of Brent in the film The Loved Ones. Image: Madman Entertainment.

The supporting cast are equally excellent with John Brumpton (Last Ride, Red Hill) as Lola’s father, whose incestuous relationship with Lola makes for intriguing insights into the power relations between the two during the torture scenes; Victoria Thaine is the sweet-natured and gentle heroine Holly, who is the binary opposite of Lola – when Lola kills or wounds, Holly would help and heal; best known for her role in TV series Packed To the Rafters, Jessica McNamee makes her film debut as the shy and reserved goth Mia, and McNamee has also filmed a role alongside Rachel McAdams, Sam Neill and Jessica Lange in The Vow.

LIKE LOLA: Mia (Jessica McNamee) is Lola's parallel double who succeeds in getting a date for the school dance, but expresses her frustrations through sexual activity instead of violence in the film The Loved Ones. Image: Madman Entertainment.

The Loved Ones screened at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival in September, where it won the coveted audience award in the Midnight Madness horror film section, gaining more attention than Daybreakers and Jennifer’s Body. This film is certain to gain cult status and cement a spot for director Sean Byrne and his young Australian cast in the hearts and minds of horrorphiles worldwide.

Director: Sean Byrne 

        

Writer: Sean Byrne (screenplay)

Cast: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee, Richard Wilson, Andrew S. Gilbert, Suzi Dougherty, Victoria Eagger, Anne Scott-Pendlebury, Fred Whitlock, Eden Porter, Stephen Walden, Leo Taylor, Igor Savin, Brandon Burns,Tom Mahoney, Gully McGrath, Liam Duxbury, Stevie-Lou Answerth, Jedda (the dog)

Producers: Matthew Street, David Whealy, Bryce Menzies, Christopher Mapp, Michael Boughen, Mark Lazarus

Cinematographer: Simon Chapman

     

Original Music Composer: Ollie Olsen

 

Film Editor: Andy Canny

             

Production: Robert Webb (Production Designer), Robert Webb (Art Director)

Costume Designer: Xanthe Heubel

Running Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes