Undescribable Perfection

the audience applauded

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The acting in this movie is really good.

Set in 1974 this film follows an experiment undertaken by Joseph Coupland, an Oxford professor; his assistants Krissi Dalton and Harry Abrams; and Brian McNeil, a recently recruited cameraman who is to document proceedings. It is explained that the subject of the experiment is Jane Harper; a very troubled young woman. She is suicidal, has no memory of her childhood and has been in a succession of foster homes; each of which she left after unexplained 'accidents. Coupland thinks he can cure her by drawing out the negative energy and effectively create a poltergeist… something he believes is a manifestation of negativity rather than anything supernatural. Soon the university removes their backing for the experiment and he, along with Jane and the others relocate to a large house. Here Jane starts talking about 'Evey'; a negative energy which Coupland tries to encourage Jane to transfer into a doll. It isn't long before strange things start to happen; things Coupland is convinced aren't supernatural but it is clear that whatever the cause they are all in danger. Things are further complicated by the fact that Brian is clearly developing feelings for Jane.This 2014 film from Hammer nicely captures the '70s feeling and has a good central premise; the problem is that for a film billed as a horror it just isn't that scary; there are a few decent jump scares and it is a bit creepy but I expected more… The DVD box states that it is 'From the makers of "The Woman in Black"' but at no point did it have the skin-crawling terror of that film despite its higher BBFC rating. The acting was impressive; most notably from Olivia Cooke who was brilliant as Jane, Jared Harris who was suitably ambiguous as Professor Coupland and Sam Claflin as Brian, the most ordinary of the characters. The special effects were decent enough and the camera-work added to the atmosphere even if is felt a bit sub-'Blair Witch' during some scenes. Overall I'd say it is worth watching if it is on TV or the DVD is in the bargain bin but it is a bit disappointing if you are expecting some real scares.

so in my humble reviews i try to focus more on who would like the movie, not why it is "objectively" good or bad. its not the most thrilling or creepy movie but it definitely has its moments. the antagonist isn't quite usual and your view on the characters changes a lot while watching. what makes this movie really interesting is the whole set(ting). the 70's optics are fresh and lively and you instantly dive into the whole thing. even for me as a late 90's kid it feels totally natural and not boring or bland at all. about the plot: it is quite mysterious till the end, you can make up many theories up until things get explained. sadly, the explanation is a little too flat and easy. that would be my only big criticism. coming to a conclusion id say: this movie is good for some decent thrill, and major 70's atmosphere. it even has some found footage elements without completely relying on that, which shakes things up a little every now and then. overall a nice experience.

University Professor Joseph Coupland, two of his students and a selected cameraman, are participating in an experiment to prove that people who claim they are "possessed" are actually just mentally ill. Coupland already has a patient in his care, a girl named Jane who's been abandoned continuously throughout her life but seems to generate a strange phenomena. This phenomena manifests as negative energy and takes the form of an infant doll-like creature, only Jane sees, named "Evey". The more the students witness, the more convinced they becomes that there is more to "Evey" than meets the eye, but Coupland is reluctant to believe this, and the more he refuses to believe, the more sinister "Evey" becomes.The Quiet Ones is another of those movies that looks good in the trailers but is actually a pretty boring film overall. For about the first 50 minutes or so, nothing really happens at all, and there are a couple of moments that make you think it's about to pick up, but it doesn't. It does pick up in the last 30 minutes, but not by much.It's not really that scary either with the scares mainly coming in the form of sudden loud noises and other "jump scares". These moments may make you jump, but it doesn't mean they scare you and the film relies too much on this tactic. The atmosphere is quite decent, but this is about the only real positive in the movie for me.One thing I noticed is that not long after the movie started, the cameraman - Brian - was told by Coupland not to look into the eyes of Jane or even talk to her as he didn't want outside interference risking the results of the experiment. Queue the next scene and there's Brian chatting away to Jane looking right at her. Now, if a movie like this is to be taken seriously then there shouldn't be such an obvious story hole, and if it's not a hole then it's just really poorly written.Pretty boring, quite non-eventful, and just a step above a total yawn-fest. This is one that you don't mind missing.

Summary: I just can't believe that this lackluster mess came out from Hammer Productions. 40/100 (C-)I am not a fan of John Pogue. He directed the Quarantine sequel called Quarantine 2: Terminal, and even though I enjoyed some scenes in its first act, the rest of it was quite tedious and dumb. The Quiet Ones is just as uneven as Quarantine 2, and that was so disappointing. Hammer Productions has made great modern horror films such as The Woman in Black and Let Me In, but this one was such a flop. The movie has an awesome cast, and unfortunately the worst director possible. Moving on, the character development felt extremely rushed and forced. The performances were good, but some of the characters were not developed enough and I did not care about them. Krissi (Erin Richards) and Harry (Rory Fleck-Byrne) were annoying and unlikable.I just wanted to slap the director because he wasted an incredible cast. Olivia Cooke, Jared Harris and Sam Claflin deserved a better script! Cooke (from the TV show Bates Motel) was stunning. Claflin gave his best too. Thankfully, The Quiet Ones proves two things: do not trust in trailers, and do not trust in Hammer anymore. Overall, it is just your average horror movie with tons of jump scares, a creepy house and brainless characters. It uses an unnecessary found- footage format that does not even add atmosphere or realism to the film. Yes, it boasts a few scares but nothing epic or memorable. Even though I enjoyed a few scenes, I can not recommend it. It was quite average, the best things about it were the performances and the costume design.I could say that the movie was slightly above average, but the last 10 minutes were just plain bad to me, they were very confusing, stupid and laughable. Also, in the last five minutes there was a scene that has CGI fire, it looked so fake and cheap. As I said the strength of the film was the production value; such as the costumes, camera work and locations. It is a shame that the scares in the trailer looked terrifying, but in the movie itself these scares were silly and hilarious. Anyway, leaving aside its flaws, I actually enjoyed four or five moments in the film, maybe even more, I do not remember. That is why I think that it deserves a decent 2/5 rating. It was not an atrocious movie, my main problem with The Quiet Ones is that wasted its huge potential. (C-)