This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

This movie has many of the elements that I love most in horror movies - slow burn, beautiful rural setting, atmospheric as hell, vengeful ghosts, and a theme based on ancient folklore. All those boxes are checked in Lawrie Brewster's debut film. So this movie drew me in from the start and I was really pulling for it to blow me away. Yet Brewster stumbles a bit in execution, reminding the viewer at times that we're seeing his first feature. Plot developments are ham-fisted at times, the dialog is often unnatural and awkwardly expository, and the editing is occasionally dodgy. Yet those minor negatives did not detract much from the fact that he has given us an engaging and creepy ghost story that evokes the classics of the 1940s to the 1960s.

I'm not sure why people give plot details in reviews. But whatever. It did not look like it would live up to the creepy vibe in trailer and took time to get there, and was worth the build up. I think most people who like horror movies watch a lot of them (I do) so you can usually see what's coming. And this did not. Slow beginning, solid story, excellent conclusion. If a movie is not a slasher the story has to be good and this was excellent well crafted story. This is not boobs and blood teen horror, if you enjoy a good story you will enjoy.

Great little horror film set and (I believe) filmed in the Scottish Highlands. I really enjoyed the sense of place throughout, the subtly anime style cinematography & the soundtrack which was clever and added to the dream like atmosphere. This will definitely appeal to fans of HP Lovecraft in particular. There's a little criticism in other reviews of the acting. To some degree they have a point, at points it's like watching a play. I don't think it's bad acting per se, but that it's a little stiffer than we're used to. The characters & writing are for the most part appealing and three dimensional enough, but for me the location, sound design & cinematography were what left the biggest impression. I was a **little** disappointed that the story had little to do with the actual owlman mystery you might have heard of in relation to the mothman. I envisaged this as a British Mothman Prophecies at first glance.

The opening quick-cut myriad of imagery to 'The Owlman' is so bleak you can almost taste it. Rain, biting winter, frost, landscape, a dark figure in the trees – these things come together so beautifully that the film looks set to be something special. When the actual story begins, some of the initial acting makes the heart sink a little – the low-budget-ness of it all seems suddenly apparent.James (Euan Douglas) inherits a sprawling mansion in the Scottish Highlands from a mother he hardly knew. Her letter insists he never returns there, having suffered a breakdown there as a child. So, naturally, he feels he has no choice but to return, to see if he can identify what troubled him so.Once there, he suffers increasing nightmares, glimpses of a strange owl-like creature, discarded feathers in dark places. He makes friends with Eve Turner (Lexi Hulme), a mysterious, beautiful American girl living in nearby renovated stables. ("What do you do here?" he asks. "Don't spoil it," she replies – shades of 2015's 'The Last House on Cemetery Lane'). SPOILER: The fact that Eve isn't 'real' is no huge surprise, nor I suspect is it meant to be. She is presented and played as larger-than-life, enigmatic and deeply eccentric, especially in contrast to James' more sober bearing.James is in regular contact with his friend Allen Milton (Jamie Gordon), who also appears to be afflicted with nightmares, and that of his father's seemingly incurable illness.Steadfastly, James learns his parents worshipped Moloch, a Canaanite god, and provided it with sacrifice. Unable to bear offering their son, they contracted a nanny and killed her instead. Eve is a manifestation of that dead girl. Once that connection has been made, Eve (and the narrative) take on more traditional horror film territory, jumping from MR James to David Lynch (not a bad combination). Eve's extravagances are suddenly not charming anymore, but ghost-like and terrifying. Watching it all is the Owlman (who appears to be the physical manifestation of Moloch), promising foul things to avenge the girl.Later, as James is telling his story to Allen, it appears Allen also worships Moloch and sacrifices his friend in order to save his father, seemingly condemning James to be the ghost who inhabits the estate instead of Eve.It doesn't matter that the acting is not always stellar. The story, the mood, the atmosphere, the location, the direction are all stunning, resulting in an extremely effective ghost story/tragedy. 'The Owlman' is the directorial debut of Lawrie Brewster, a name to watch out for. It won two awards at the 2013 Bram Stoker International Film Festival – one, an audience award, and the other for Lexi Hulme's performance.Highly recommended.