Cunning and sinister the film Emelie comes to home video on DVD and Blu-ray. The film increases the level of emotion, fear, and chills as the haunting plot moves from one unconscionable scene to another. Totally beyond the scope of anything so despicable, the acting, cinematography and direction bring it all together as a very scary situation that’s a family’s worst nightmare. That said, I am bothered by the way they chose to end the film, but that’s something horror fans can deal with on their own.
Late afternoon a teen is walking along a street in a tree covered neighborhood. A car stops to ask her where the nearest post office is located. Not sure she asks a person walking toward her, but at that instant the man shoves her into the back seat of the car. The scene switches to a teen sitting on the sidewalk in front of a house. A car comes by, it’s Dan (Chris Beetem) the husband who has come to pick up the substitute babysitter (played by Sarah Bolger), for a couple’s night out.
So begins a story so evil that I found myself wondering if it could happen in real life. Unsettling to say the least, the acting team does a fabulous job of delivering a fiendish film that will keep even the most die hard horror fans ridding an emotional roller coaster. Even though some of it may be a bit incredible, let yourself go inside the confines of the mind of this psycho girl. After all she’s only wanting to select one child from the three she’s babysitting to become her own.
Writer and director of Emelie, Michael Thelin delivers his film with some shocking twists and turns, mostly coming from his star Sarah Bolger. In order to be convincing her character has to be cunning and shocking in her performance. And Thelin makes her a determined and demented predictor that will go at length to let the maliciousness inside guide her ultimate shocking quest. The child support actors Joshua Rush as Jacob, Carly Adams as Sally and Thomas Bair as Christopher make the whole show work. Thelin guides the youngsters into dangerous situations after establishing their roles as the intelligent siblings of Dan and Joyce (Susan Pourfar).
Playing the lead in the film Sarah Bolger keeps her character on point changing personalities to fit each contemptible scene. Here range of wholesome to nasty shows what it takes to make her character believable, and she nails it.
BONUS FEATURE
The Blu-ray disc has a bonus feature called The Making of Emelie. It’s a 12 minute bonus with director Michael Thelin and writer Richard Raymond and the use of a low budget with producer Andrew Corkin and Co-producer Robyn Bennett explaining how the film came to fruition. Chiming in some of the cast members talk about the roles in the film.
Emelie has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, gore, sexuality and language. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it has scenes inappropriate for adolescents.
FINAL ANALYSIS: The film takes terror to another level. (B)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Sarah Bolger, Joshua Rush, Carly Adams, Thomas Bair, Elizabeth Jayne, Susan Pourfar, Chris Beetem, Randi Langdon, Dante Hoagland.
Directed by: Michael Thelin
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, Contains language, violence, sexuality, gore
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 28 min.
Original Theatrical Release Date: March 4, 2016
Video Release Date: May 3, 2016
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray (also available on DVD)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0
Video: Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Dark Sky Films
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
