The Loved Ones (2010)

Director: Sean Byrne
Cast:
Xavier Samuel/Brent
Robin McLeavy/Lola
Victoria Thaine/Holly
John Brumpton/Lola’s Father Eric
Jessica McNamee/Mia
Richard Wilson/Jamie

PLOT:
Lola wants to go to the end of school dance, and what Lola wants, Lola gets…
Brent is a high school teen who lost his father in a car accident and now deals with depression, but it is his adorable girlfriend Holly that keeps him from giving up on life together. When he rejects Lola’s invitation to the dance, he is kidnapped and wakes up tied to a chair in Lola’s kitchen with her father. What ensues is a night of horror, torture, blood, knives, brutal violence, and morbid humor.

REVIEW:
The Loved Ones is a movie I have had my eye on all year. It all started when I saw the picture of a lone woman dressed in pink running through a field as the sun rises behind her with a knife in her hand. The screen shot was both beautiful and creepy and that one picture is one got me interested in the film. For months there was almost no information about this film, and the moment I saw the trailer, I knew this was going to be more than just a basic horror film, and right I was.
By the time this film ended, my jaw was on the floor. I didn’t just watch a horror film, I had a horror experience. For a sad year in horror, it has been saved in the past few months with the releases of Piranha 3D, Frozen, and now The Loved Ones. The film opened up with Brent swerving out of the way of a ghostly boy in the street, crashing into a tree, which kills his father. The movie starts with a bang. Cut to six months later and Brent now lives a depressed life where he cares about three things: metal music, pot, and his girlfriend Holly. The movie already started off on the right bat by giving us a great hero to root for. He was interesting and very likable and I could instantly relate to him. He reminded me of myself when I was in high school. So right there I was behind the hero all the way through. It also helps that the very sexy and VERY talented Xavier Samuel played him. He is a very underrated actor in my opinion, so its nice to see him in a lead role and he gave a very visceral and likable performance as Brent.
When the horror starts, it never lets up. The violence continues to ramp up and the film continues to get more and more brutal. The movie was scary as fuck! There were scenes were I was honest to god (or whoever is out there) terrified! It’s been a while since that has happened to me with a movie! This film gives us a new villain to add to the list of great horror villains. Lola. What can I say about this beautiful creature? She was scary as fuck, and I wanted her to die so badly! But strangely I also found her sexy in a strange way and was still a bit sympathetic towards her in scenes. Talk about a BRILLIANT performance by Robin McLeavy. I’ve never even heard of this girl before, but I will definitely keep tabs on her. This girl has major acting chops. She blew me away with her scary as shit performance. She and Xavier Samuel were both amazing in their roles. Brumpton as her father was also creepy, yet endearing in the role in how he just wants his daughter to be happy.
Another aspect I loved about the film is another certain relationship between Brent and his girlfriend Holly (wonderfully played by Victoria Thaine). Thaine was adorable as Holly, and I just wanted to hug her and be friends with her. We can understand why Brent really cares for her.
I loved how the film had a big set of balls. It wasn’t afraid to go farther and farther, and as the time went on, the film continued to get crazier and crazier. I loved the implied incest of Lola and her father’s relationship. It just added to their insanity. Another thing I admire is the morbid humor. There were some scenes where the film will just have me laughing at the absurdity (that scene with Brent in the tree and Lola’s laugh LOL!). The movie was gory per se, but it was one brutal film. What it didn’t show didn’t take away from the film, because I was still squirming at many of the scenes and my jaw dropped down in terror at some of these scenes. But when they did show the bloody good, boy did it work! No CGI in this film – all practical! Another great mark to the film and this film had a real knack for creating some suspenseful scenes. There was one particular scene towards the end and a police car that had me on the edge of my seat. I honestly had NO idea how this film would end and there were some twists that took me aback.
On a technical level, this film was perfect. The directing was beautiful and Byrne really knew how to create a scary scene and the cinematography really was astounding. The beauty of the shots really clashed with the harsh brutality of the situation and it worked for me. As for the soundtrack and that musical score – it KICKED my ass! I must own it!
By the time the movie reached the last half hour, it went beyond what I ever thought would happen and it just became all insanity. Wait until you see what is in the basement – WOW! I didn’t see that one coming.
One thing I haven’t mentioned is a certain subplot with Brent’s best friend Sac who is having the perfect night with his dream date, the beautiful Goth Mia. His subplot brought up some laughs and was a breather for anyone who couldn’t take Brent’s horror anymore. At first I was confused by this storyline, because I didn’t think it was necessary but in the end it came together quite well with the main storyline. The character of Mia was quite tragic and sad and was very well played by McNamee. She played her with such sexiness that oozed from every one of her pores, but you could also always tell how much pain she was in inside.
I’m going to say it now; this film is a horror masterpiece. Yes! I said it. In my opinion, this is a perfect film. I haven’t been this satisfied with a horror film in a long while – of course it is a foreign film. It’s from Australia. I say SEE this movie and it is now one of my favorite films.

Grade: 10/10