Not to be confused with the Korean film of the same name, Samuel Bodin’s Cobweb is an effective horror film of creepy children, sinister grown-ups, and things that go bump in the night. The trailer launched in June and quickly took the internet by storm with its promise of sleepless nights, a promise that mostly holds up.
Set in the town of Holdenfield, the week before Halloween, the initial perception of Cobweb is that it is trying too hard to please the horror fans. With no pre-existing property to tie itself to, Cobweb seems nervous about its reception and so includes clunky references to the iconic Halloween. It is a move that takes the viewer out of the film, which isn’t necessary, as the story presented is more than enough to satisfy those who enjoy a good scare.
The story focuses on young boy Peter (Woody Newman), his parents Mark (Antony Starr) and Carol (Lizzy Caplan), and the house in which they live. Although having lived in the building for years, something changes and suddenly Peter is being kept up at night by a persistent banging on his bedroom wall. This nocturnal knocking causes a substantial amount of upheaval for Peter and his parents, positioning themselves for a ghastly ordeal from which they may never recover.
At face value, Cobweb appears to be a generic horror tale, and to a degree this is an accurate observation. The first chunk of Cobweb is happy to play to tropes: the dark house, bullied child, disbelieving parents, but that eventually starts to change. Peter’s parents are not only unprepared to listen to their son’s stories, they actively punish him for speaking up. The pair are overwhelmingly sinister and pose a threat that is perhaps greater than the potential supernatural occurrences happening within the building. Their portrayal as monsters feels lifted straight out of a lost Stephen King story. Antony Starr and Lizzy Caplan are no strangers to playing villains and so are utterly believable as an unhinged set of parents.
Cobweb hides more than just questionable parenting styles with a late onset reveal twisting everything seen before on its head. This new direction makes Cobweb stand out amongst a sea of faceless genre movies and to some degree leaves the viewer wishing it had happened earlier. It does throw up some troubling messages in relation to the treatment of children, but works within the narrative. The true nature of Cobweb is far more sinister and a little more time would help the horror seep in. As it stands, it works as a great WTF moment akin to Malignant, but only has enough time to flash rather than crackle.
From a visual standpoint Cobweb is effective at creating a moody atmosphere. The classic old house setting does much of the set dressing work, but Bodin’s use of colour adds extra layers. Cobweb’s autumnal setting is mirrored by Bodin’s use of browns, burgundy, and greys. These colours communicate the season but also the help ramp up the spooky factor. By keeping the colour palette seasonal and natural they feel muted and devoid of life which is an accurate description for Peter and his parents. Even before the night time noises begin, it is clear that there is something not quite right with the family. What should be energetic exchanges around the dinner table are stilted. Mark and Carol are presented straight-laced, but it is quickly clear that this is masking their darker selves. The shadowy house shrouds them, making them the monsters lurking before Peter has started to experience any other danger. Those shadows come into play later on, making the perfect playground for the entity linked with the building.
Whilst there are some very effective moments in Cobweb, and its visual construction is sound, there is something lacking in the foundations. It is hard to fully articulate, but there is a sense that this version of Cobweb was not meant to be the final one. At ninety minutes long it feels as though there was once a longer iteration that got chopped down to make a more cinema friendly run-time. This is best exemplified through Peter’s school subplot involving bully Brian (played by Lukey Busey, son of Gary Busey). Their story is rushed and escalates too quickly, meaning that intervening scenes must exist on the cutting room floor. The inclusion of substitute teacher, Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman), also feels odd. Miss Devine pops up at various times with no real explanation of why she is so concerned with a child she has seemingly only interacted with on the briefest of levels. These two weakened links make the climatic element of the story wobble.
Not quite as genre-shattering as the likes of Malignant, Cobweb provides enough interesting swerves to convention to sustain horror audiences.
Cobweb
Summary
A potent mixture of haunted houses and familial nightmares, Cobweb is an original horror whose uniqueness is sometimes overshadowed by its need to please by conforming to tropes.
Cobweb is released in the US on 28th July. Cobweb arrives in UK cinemas on 1st September.
