A DARK SONG (2016)

Directed by Liam Gavin, Starring: Catherine Walker, Steve Oram. Horror, Ireland, 2016, 100mins, Cert 15.

“...this is real stuff we’re playing with: real angels, real demons”   

 

Three years after the murder of her 7 year old son, Sophia (Catherine Walker) enlists the services of an initially reluctant occultist, Solomon (Steve Oram) to conduct an all-consuming black magic ritual to summon her guardian angel. At first, Sophia makes out her reason is for unreciprocated romantic love, but when Solomon refuses (despite being offered £80K) for what he perceives as such a pitifully unworthy reason: “Abramelin procedure just to force love. It’s like getting Titian to decorate a cake”, Sophia opens up to explain about her son and tells Solomon it’s actually to hear her dead son’s voice again. This changes his mind, but firstly he asks Sophia to reassure him that this now is the truth: “as it’s important” and not being completely honest could have consequences for both of them.

Director/writer Liam Gavin’s debut feature is a powerful assured two-hander set mainly within the echoed corridors and sparsely furnished bare wood floor rooms of an isolated manor house. It chronicles an almost forensically detailed depiction of arcane preparation and practice - far removed from the usual throwaway mainstream montage depictions of Ouija boards or séance clichés - and is all the more compelling as a result. 

To this end, it is immeasurably assisted by the abrasive matter-of-factness of Steve (SIGHTSEERS) Oram’s acerbic occultist Solomon, a character almost lifted straight out of a Mike Leigh kitchen sink drama. Solomon is spiteful, condescending and viscously cruel at times, so you’d therefore imagine intensely dislikeable. However, writer/director Gavin sprinkles occasional hints of kindness and compassion on the character to occasionally dilute his often downright unpleasantness, and Oram brings out the subtleties and seemingly contradictory actions with an unfussy convincing efficiency. 

 

Catherine Walker (Sophia) is superb as the grief and guilt-ridden mother who has had enough of counselling and her younger sister’s unwanted interventions and steels herself for what will prove to be six months of hellish endurance. Sophia’s arc is integral to the film, and Walker provides subtle nuance in essaying a character also seemingly hard to warm to, and her fully committed performance, often enduring arduous tests and physical challenges ultimately rewards. 

   

The supernatural elements of the story are initially introduced with delicate visual touches, and the build-up is assuredly measured (perhaps too measured for some viewers?). As events begin to take on a darker tone in the final third, it is telling that both players and their director have guided you to this point and have earned your investment in their characters, thereby enhancing the impact of their respective fates. 

The conclusion is, I respectfully suggest, bold and audaciously risky on one hand, yet on the other, it also has the potential to induce WTF-like giggles as much as it does genuine wonderment. To me it makes perfect sense, and demonstrates that the director has played it straight right from the off, but against a backdrop of mainstream supernatural horror, an uplifting spiritual dénouement is an acquired taste for audiences used to being fed a diet of final jump scares often heralding the next sequel in a franchise. 

This is a slow burn black candle of a film, but one I’m happy to wax lyrical about.

****(OUT OF 5*)

Paul Worts
First published on the FrightFest website.website.