Mum & Dad

Introduction

One of the first two greenlit features made for the Film London Microwave project, which part-funds films with a micro budget - under £100,000 - Mum & Dad is Steven Sheil's first feature film.

Lena, a young Polish migrant worker who is a cleaner at Heathrow, misses the last bus home so agrees to spend the night with co-workers Birdie and Elbie and their Mum and Dad. As soon as she arrives, she is knocked out and injected with something to paralyse her vocal chords to stop her shouting for help. Chained to the bed in a squalid bedroom she hears screaming coming from outside the door and she soon realises that she must stay on the good side of Mum and Dad and become part of the family or she'll end up under concrete in the back garden.

Obviously influenced by the case of Fred and Rose West as well as Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pete Walker's Frightmare and Freddy Francis' Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly, Mum & Dad is an ordeal horror and belongs in the dysfunctional and murderous family sub-genre.

Video

A good picture with surprisingly realistic and well made prosthetics, this manages to provide the gore and tension despite the limited budget.

Audio

A very nice Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack with clear dialogue, excellent sound design - dominated by the planes flying by - and only a few pieces of (purposefully) tacky music in a very disturbing Christmas scene.

Extra Features

The commentary by Steven Shiel and producer Lisa Trnovski is entertaining and informative, with plenty of revelations about the origins of the film, shooting and locations.

Steven Shiel's short film Through A Vulture Eye is a Poe-esque first person narrative with some fairly well made and disturbing imagery accompanying the story.

There are plenty of interviews with Shiel and the other members of the cast and crew from Frightfest and on set though Shiel appears to be asked the same questions and give roughly (and obviously) the same answers.

The behind the scenes footage is interesting, though a little brief.

There is also the trailer.

Conclusion

£100,000 might sound like a lot of money but in the world of feature films, it's minute. In the interviews Steven Sheil explains how the Microwave Project works, where he secured the money and what a short process it was from being shortlisted to filming. It is a credit to him and the rest of the cast and crew that such an accomplished film was made, considering the budget and the time he had to write the script.

The casting is excellent with a blend of first time actors with someone like Perry Benson who had previously worked with Shane Meadows in This is England and Somers Town. Benson, as Dad, is as good here as he is in Meadows' films, normal and terrifying in equal measures and has a fascinating relationship with Mum (Dido Miles) and adopted daughter Birdie (Ainsley Howard). It is these two female characters that are the most complex, especially Mum who subverts and plays with gender stereotypes.

The influences, especially The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are obvious with allusions to cannibalism, a horrendous dinner scene and horrific set design. The film has a very British feel to it with fried breakfasts and lots of cups of tea but, especially the Christmas scene where Dad is p***ed on Sherry, crap presents are handed out and tacky decorations adorn the room oh, and the naked dead man nailed to the wall.

Mum & Dad is basically a waking nightmare where the young characters are forced to please their 'parents' or feel their wrath; they can be caring and charming or horribly threatening and murderous. The film is faithful to some genre conventions and if you've seen as many as I have then the ending will come as no surprise. This is a rough diamond of a British horror film and, due to the multi platform release (cinema, DVD (rental and retail), Electronic sell-through (Blinkbox.com and Lovefilm.com) and Video-On-Demand (Film Flex and Sky Box Office)) on the same day, there are plenty of opportunities to see it. It won't be everyone's cup of tea but I liked it and it's well worth at least a rental. Steven Shiel has made a very impressive debut and it'll be interesting to see what his next project is and whether it lives up to his obvious potential.