[Once
again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for
the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The
Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can
pull it off this year.]
Review by Bob Ignizio
Matthew Holness already had major horror cred in my book for
writing and starring in the amazing Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, which
he co-created with Richard Ayoade. But where that program had a laugh mocking
the sort of low budget schlock one might have seen on eighties British
television, and poking fun at pompous horror writers who take themselves a bit
too seriously, there’s precious little to laugh abut in POSSUM, Holness’
feature film debut.
POSSUM is a textbook case of quiet horror, and all
the more disturbing because of it. The plot is that Philip (Sean Harris), a children’s
puppeteer whose twisted dark stories and horrific puppet ensure he doesn’t get
too many referrals, returns to the run-down apartment where he was raised by
his abusive uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong). It is not a happy family reunion.
