Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr, Woody Norman
Directed by: Samuel Bodin
Ah, those creepy, bone-chilling noises we hear at night – be it young or old, something deemed as unexplained or unfounded can really rattle the psyche. But what about when that “noise” is trying to actually convey a message, or a forthcoming occurrence, and the tactic to get your attention is literally denting your patience meter? COBWEB, the latest horror/thriller from Director Samuel Bodin is an exercise in confronting that thing that makes you shiver, and makes you listen to its warnings…for they could just save your life.
Starring Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield) & Antony Starr (The Boys) as the firm (but not so fair) parents of 8-year old Peter (Woody Norman), the premise from the get-go is easy to latch onto: eerie noises in the wall of Peter’s bedroom have him both intrigued & terrified all in the same fashion. He’s a bullied child at school, and faces some of the same illustrations when he returns back home every day, against the stringent rules & regulations put down by his guardians. After some time, the noise in Peter’s wall begins to become more & more concise with its message, and he takes it into his own hands to follow the message to the letter, regardless of who might be in the way.
As the movie rolls on, we’re treated to some rather fantastic performances by all cast involved, with every voice that’s designed to be malicious, caring, neutral or otherwise. Caplan & Starr are the perfect sinister spouses (Starr seemed to be hanging onto his diabolical portrayal of “Homelander”), while Norman’s depiction of a disrupted soul during their formative years is not only concretely-convincing, but emits a dose of sympathy at more than a few moments in the film. Scares are a bit sporadic over the course of the runtime, but it’s the entirety of this movie that will grab hold of you and sink its fangs into – a well-concocted blend of gloom & doom act as the poisonous potion here, and Bodin offers up more than just a sip.
At the end of the day here in the morgue, COBWEB is a film that I could definitely recommend to those looking for a little white-knuckled medication in their horror dosage-list. It’s an intense dive into a small, yet reticently dysfunctional family unit & the secrets that will ultimately pave the road to their fates (if that may be the case). If you’re champing at the bit to get your chompers into this one, COBWEB will be exclusively in theaters on July 21st…just try not to pay attention to those noises coming from your wall after you check this one out.
