A Dark Song *** (2016, Steve Oram, Catherine Walker, Mark Huberman, Susan Loughnane) – Movie Review

Steve Oram and Catherine Walker star as the damaged occultist Mr Solomon and the determined, traumatised Sophia who hires him to spend months together in an isolated Welsh mansion to perform a dangerous ritual so she can contact the dead.

Maybe because he comes from Melton Mowbray, the home of the pork pie, Oram is dangerously funny, giving an electric performance in a tour-de-force of creepy bossiness, quite outclassing Walker, who is OK. Indeed, though the film is basically a two-hander, it becomes the Steve Oram show, and a good thing, too. To be fair, it takes two to tango, and Walker helps Oram tango. And both of them put all they’ve got into the dance.

Performances apart, it is quite a good horror thriller, with a few shocks and surprises up its entertaining sleeve. It is a credit to writer-director Liam Gavin, making his feature debut.

Though set in Wales, it was shot at a mansion in Ireland for exterior shots and inside a townhouse for interiors in just 20 days.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

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