When you live in a creepy fucking house, creepy fucking things are going to happen. That’s the driving force between Oddity, a super creepy movie that doesn’t quite come together.
The plot, really, has nothing to do with the creepy fucking house, but Oddity dwells heavily within the dark, castle-like structure. Writer/director Damian McCarthy establishes an incredible sense of foreboding and tension, which ricochets within the confines of the atmospheric house. Within minutes, McCarthy makes it clear that this is a movie where you aren’t going to be able to relax, because bad things can happen at any time. And even when they aren’t happening, your gut instinct tells you to be on guard. To be afraid.
The story too is dark. The film opens with a brutal murder and only gets more bleak from there, though McCarthy’s stilted storytelling approach doesn’t quite convey what’s at play in the most satisfying of ways. What limits the emotional punch of the movie is his characters, who are largely sucked of… well, emotion. We see the pure terror on poor Dani’s face in the moments before she is brutally murdered, but for much of the movie we are stuck with her blind and psychic twin sister (also played by Carolyn Bracken) whose real disability is a complete lack of personality. For a while it’s unclear who the protagonist is meant to be–I’m not convinced there even was one.
The end result is a super creepy movie–without soul. The characters don’t matter, and so ultimately the movie doesn’t matter.
And yet, Oddity, in the moment, fills you with a sense of immense unease. There are only so many horror movies that can claim that. As I watched this movie at home, in the dark, in my bedroom, multiple scenes caused a shiver to course through my body. Only so many horror movies can claim that.
Oddity isn’t perfect, but it truly is an oddity: it’s a horror movie lacking soul that nonetheless is able to tap into the dark recesses of your own soul. The creepy fucking house helps.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.