Husk (2011) starring Devon Graye, Wes Chatham, C.J. Thomason, Tammin Sursok, Ben Easter directed by Brett Simmons Movie Review

Husk (2011)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Devon Graye in Husk (2011)

Not Much Corn Here

Four friends and a girlfriend are heading off for their annual holiday together when driving along a road a murder of crows crash into the window screen causing them to crash into a corn field. When they come to they notice Johnny (Ben Easter) is no longer there and so Brian (Wes Chatham) and Scott (Devon Graye) head in to the field looking for him; first discovering a scarecrow and then a house in the middle where they discover Johnny. Meanwhile Chris (C.J. Thomason) and Natalie (Tammin Sursok) stay with the vehicle where Natalie discovers something unsettling at the edge of the field and with Chris run in to the field looking for the others. It is soon clear that something else is living in that field and house which puts them all in danger.

First things first, considering "Husk" is a low budget movie with lesser known actors and a lesser known director it has a stunning look. From the use of the setting sun to create warmth to horror moments; be it a face to face with what lurks in the field or a scene involving a sewing machine it is visually great and puts to shame a lot of other low budget movies especially when you consider this was shot in just 19 days.

Tammin Sursok in Husk (2011)

But then there is the storyline and "Husk" starts in a completely typical manner with a group of young people stranded in the middle of nowhere finding themselves in a lot of danger. If that was all there was to "Husk", just typical elements then it would be ordinary but this has not only the great look but something more than just another psycho in the woods, there is a ritual of sorts going on which makes it all more disturbing. Now it isn't completely perfect and the way it goes about explaining what is going on lets the movie down and feels like it is forcing it but at least it doesn't ruin it.

What surprisingly works is the acting as whilst the writing does little to create characters with back stories each of the actors manages to create identifiable characters from the nerdy one who did chess club to the sports jock who ran track. And these actors also manage to do a good job of delivering the dialogue some of which is good but often is the sort of stuff you find in many a low budget movie.

What this all boils down to is that "Husk" whilst having some story telling issues is better than I expected with decent acting and a great look which makes this feel much more than another horror featuring lesser known actors and a less known director.


LATEST REVIEWS