FFF Review: THE LOVED ONES

It's still a bit early, but who cares? THE LOVED ONES is the best horror film of the year!!

I'm basing my judgement on my personal reaction to this australian shocker. More than any other genre, the horror film plot has to generate a variety of reactions in the viewer: you have to be scared, you have to be shocked, you have to be entertained, you have to feel sympathy for not just the protagonist but every single character on screen (something only few genre films achieve since they aim to make the bad guys as inhumane as possible) and yet they also have to make you laugh and cringe. This is a whole lot that has to be achieved, and THE LOVED ONES manages with ease.

So here we go: It's the last days of school for a group of australian teenagers, and the kids are looking forward to their "end-of-school-dance". All but Lola, who's in love with Trent - because Trent is in a relationship with Mia. Unbeknownst to her, Trent's still grieving for his father, who's died in a car crash with his son driving. Trent has fled into a world of heavy metal and self destruction. However, Lola only cares for the pretty outside. And so, she asks her dad to KIDNAP TRENT AND STRAP HIM TO A CHAIR, so she can re-enact with him her very own, perfect end-of-school-dance-night, which mostly consists of boring party games, sexual advances and torture.

So whilst Trent is beaten, slashed, cut, burned and all sorts of other cringe-worthy things, his best friend has his big date - a beautiful rock-chick (see above) who's way cooler then him, making him act like a complete idiot and an oversized teddy bear at the same time. And we are also with Mia, as she fears for her disappeared boyfriend and Trent's still grieving mother. All of those side-stories are flawlessly performed, absolutely perfectly written and well paced. We truly feel with those people, even more since we know what Trent goes through. And further, even though Lola and her father and disturbingly psychotic, the audience still feels with them, as one clumsy move after another, the two just can't help but loose to the good guys... or can they?

A mixture of terror-film a la TCM or MUM & DAD and John Hughs coming-of-age story, THE LOVED ONES is one of the most entertaining films I have seen in a very long time and highly recommended!!

Rating - 10/10