The Loved Ones (2009)

Written and Directed by Sean Byrne

Sometimes a horror movie is so off the radar but you keep hearing things and vow to check it out. I've been saying that for a year and a half, and I'm glad I finally watched it. A very personal horror film The Loved Ones centers on Brent (Xavier Samuel), school heartthrob and all around cool guy. For example, on the night of prom, instead of going with his girlfriend, he chooses to sit around and listen to music. When a girl named Lola asks him to prom anyway, he sticks to his plan of doing nothing. Spurned, Lola leaves.

While sitting alone in the outback, Brent is suddenly grabbed by a mysterious person, and kidnapped. He ends up tied to a chair in a basement, where the worst horror of his life unfolds before him. Make no mistake, The Loved Ones is a torture film, but it's a torture film with something to say. Here, the torture physically inflicted is to match the perceived mental torture of unrequited love.

You see, Lola (Robin McLeavy) is the girl Brent turned down at school, now her Daddy (John Brumpton) has grabbed Brent, and will make him pay for not noticing how beautiful his daughter is. Such is the set up for the borderline incestuous relationship between Lola and her Daddy, who helps Lola extract revenge on those that aren't nice to her.

If this seem somewhat familiar, it is. It's not the first time a psycho family member has helped find a young sexual partner for his close family, but in the third act the film takes a series of left turns that can't be seen, but they work to maximum effect. There are more than a few "HOLY SHIT!" scenes, where I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The strength of the acting carries this above and beyond mere genre fodder, it's a star making vehicle, I expect to see Robin McLeavy in a lot of upcoming films, and from what I understand, Xavier Samuel is already a teen icon. John Brumpton is great as the twisted Daddy, and Sean Byrne is sure to get any deal he wants for his next film with the assured nature in which he directed this film.

All the perfect notes are hit, and while the first act takes a while to get where it's going, the second and third acts pump along until the violent conclusion. An intense horror film, with some darkly humorous and equally nasty things to say about humans and what they'll do to satisfy their need to be loved. Definitely a memorable film, I'm curious if it will ever find a wide audience.

9.3/10 (A)