Director: Vincenzo Natali
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Peter Outerbridge, Michelle Nolden, Stephen McHattie, Peter DaCunha, Samantha Weinstein, Eleanor Zichy, David Hewlett,
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Certificate: 15
A horror version of GROUNDHOG DAY? “Surely not,” I hear you cry. The idea of rinse and repeat in the world of film, allowing for a protagonist to learn a valuable lesson and/or solve a mystery has recently been used in sci-fi thriller SOURCE CODE and sci-fi action caper EDGE OF TOMORROW. It’s a complicated premise that is also simple to implement, much like time travel. Also like time travel, it is something that is very difficult to get correct as the film is instantly at risk from tripping over its feet. HAUNTER is thankfully a rather successful attempt at taking the idea of living the same day over and over again.
The first positive to say about the film is that it doesn’t muck about. It doesn’t needlessly string out a mystery or have us asking questions. Lisa (Breslin) is fully aware of her situation from the moment the film starts, and has been for quite some time. She’s also aware that she and her family are all dead. Again, this plot point could have been run into the ground and danced around adding superfluous minutes to the running time but Natali knows you’ve seen this all before and so doesn’t waste your time.
Telling things from the ghosts’ perspectives is an interesting touch and actually makes for a much more emotional affair than your regular horror outing. Usually plots centre around a clueless human who assumes the ghosts are evil and then we’re slapped with an emotional climax in the dying minutes. Here, Lisa’s frustrations are prevalent throughout. We understand that she is both upset, but also quite bored by the situation. Her family’s ambivalence towards their situation is both comical and aggravating. Things change pace when Lisa realises she may be able to leave her world and haunt the living, or are the living entering her world. After a series of warnings about contacting the living, she begins to unravel a sinister mystery.
The final third does begin to focus more on a mystery than the characters, and there are parts where you almost forget that you are watching a ghost solve a mystery as the generic investigation takes place. Natali adds enough visual flourishes to keep things interesting though, with an early CG butterfly sequence a memorable stand-out as well as a creepy reminder of the ghosts’ fate. By speeding through the unoriginal parts and switching the roles of the living and the dead, HAUNTER is a surprisingly successful dramatic horror which could very well have been explored deeper.
[usr=3]HAUNTER is released on DVD on 14th July.
