By Rebecca Ryan
The Quiet Ones follows a group of university students and their professor as they experiment on a troubled young girl who believes she is plagued by ghosts. They try to prove that the girl is merely able to express her emotions outwards through telekinesis and is not subject to supernatural influences. As their research continues, they begin to realise their theories may be completely wrong.
Hammer has only recently started producing horror movies again. For horror fans it was great news and The Woman in Black was a breath of fresh air in British horror. The Quiet Ones runs in a similar vein to The Woman in Black; it’s fundamentally a ghost story, set in Britain (albeit in the 1970s) and it follows a lead (Sam Clafin) who does not believe in the supernatural. These are the only real similarities in the two, but it’s difficult not to compare them. One thing that Hammer does get right is atmosphere and setting; the sets creak and echo in a really effective way that is reminiscent of proper, old-fashioned thrillers.
However, all of this becomes wasted when the audience is supposed to be frightened; in scenes where something scary happens, the scare is ruined by an unnecessary loud noise that happens a fraction before we are able to see what all the fuss is about. For example; you hear nothing but dead silence, then a loud noise, then the camera pans down to a candle knocked onto the floor. The audience is treated to a jump scare rather than anything truly frightening. It’s a trait that is common these days in modern horrors and it was pretty disappointing to see it here. These are the true killers of the horror genre; a loud noise doesn’t make you scared, it just provokes a basic instinct to flinch.
The Quiet Ones takes a slightly unusual perspective for its premise in that the people are trying to disprove a ghost theory rather than prove it. As the events get more and more peculiar and verging on the violent, there are still people denying the presence of ghosts. However, there were a few aspects of this film that felt out of place. Brian is in charge of filming all of the experiments and compiling video evidence. He carries around his camera for most of the film and it switches from his camera’s perspective to one typically seen in films, showing everyone. Scenes jump from his camera and back at an apparently random rate and it is a bit confusing at times. It seems like this was added to cash in on the recent success of the tiresome ‘found footage’ sub-genre. It doesn’t really fit here but some scenes do look quite creepy with it.
The five characters are all pretty well written; there is a basic stereotype in each person but their actions are not too in-your-face. To put it bluntly, you don’t want any of these people to be murdered during the course of the film. The plot is solid with a few unanswered questions, but none that will leave you tearing your hair out.
Overall, The Quiet Ones is one of the better horror movies released lately but it is still a little bland. The performances are all great and there are a few genuinely creepy moments towards the end, but it is ultimately ruined by the jump scares.
