Offspring (2009)

Director:

Andrew van den Houten

Writers:

Jack Ketchum (novel)
Jack Ketchum (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Survivors of a feral flesh-eating clan are chowing their way through the locals. Amy Halbard and Claire...

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Ghost House Underground | Based On Novel

Cast

Jessica Butler	...	Eartheater
Leigh Feldpausch	...	Second Stolen
Holter Graham	...	Vic Manetti
Stephen Grey	...	First Stolen
Amy Hargreaves	...	Amy
Art Hindle	...	George Peters
Erick Kastel	...	Stephen Carey
Spencer List	...	Rabbit
Pollyanna McIntosh	...	The Woman
Scott Mellema	...	Detective
Emma Elizabeth Messing	...	Baby Melissa
Andrew Elvis Miller	...	David Halbard
Will Miller	...	Biting Baby Double
Preston Mulligan	...	The Boy
Ed Nelson	...	Cow
Tommy Nelson	...	Luke
Taylor John Piedmonte	...	Miles Harrison
Ahna Tessler	...	Claire
Jana Veldheer	...	Hitchhiker Susan
Rachel White	...	The Girl

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, disturbing situations, language, nudity and some sexuality.

Runtime:

Germany:100 min (European Film Market)

Language:

English

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Muskegon, Michigan, USA

Company:

Modernciné

Trivia:

At least one of the cannibals in this movie is really a vegetarian.

Movie Connections:

References Flaming Star (1960)

Genuine psychological horror in art-abattoir sheepskin! Wonderful!

Why oh why is Jack Ketchum so disturbing? When you think about it, it's not necessarily the content. There is torture porn galore out there so extreme it makes "The Girl Next Door" seem tame. But that film, I argue, is anything but torture porn. Why is "Red" so believable? How is it is such an empathetic film? Why is it that "The Lost" manages to be absorbing whilst repulsive, what is it about the charisma of murderer that fascinates us? Mr Ketchum leaves us in moral grey area, a haze of context and emotion, or the lack thereof. This is why he works. There is often little justification and nor does it challenge you to seek the need for it. "Why" it has often said, is the death of art. The same can be said for "Offspring" the fourth Ketchum adaptation to make it to the screen.

And is it any good? Yes. In fact. It's really, really good. As we all know, this is the adaptation of a sequel to a novel that has its rights caught in a web of frustrating development. It is also in a genre that since its publication has become quite familiar and to be honest, often ho- hum and repetitious. With all this said, I can honestly say that I have never seen a horror film like "Offspring" and it certainly feels and sounds like none of the films it may be compared to ("Wrong Turn", "The Hills Have Eyes" etc). It is unique, anti-Hollywood, violently Independent and starkly unjustified. Scenes are incongruous to expectation- where you think there should be music there is stark silence, where there should be answers there are only questions. "Offspring" is very unsettling.

The minimalist score reminded me of "Cannibal Holocoust", a discordant mix of natural bone rattles and synthetic stings which encapsulate beautifully the arena in which this film takes place: a bloody battleground where primitive vs civilization, past vs present, male vs female, youth vs age, youth vs youth and extinction vs future. The film does not flow, it grinds. You are literally caught in the wheels of these juxtapositions and you are so utterly alone.

The film itself, I would not call scary in the traditional sense. There are no cheap scares. It is however intimidating. Some criticism has been made towards the look of the cannibal family. I have nothing to complain about. They are a perfect mix of Peter Pan "Lost Boys" and cavemen; and a truer description of their lives could not be made.

Ketchum wrote the script and it bares many of his trademarks; the first and most major being his insane ability to create characters (both good and evil) with fleeting speed (most likely a trade he honed under Robert Bloch's tutelage). The performances, for the most part, are good. There are a couple of bad readings, but certainly nothing to complain about. Like Stephen King, a lot of Ketchum's dialogue is hard to deliver and for the most part, these guys do a great job.

Some will wonder about the gore. Is it violent? Yes. Horrifically so. But do not expect safe gore. Do not expect "Hostel" style catharsis. The violence is as titillating as surgery. The film is directed and shot in such a way that defies convention. The pacing is off in every action sequence. Scenes shot in wide that you would expect to be in close-up and again, silence where there should be screams. "Offspring" is not an adventure, it is an experience. Some will not like it. Some will need neat Hollywood endings, characters that come out of the horror fugue state known as shock and complete the projected arc you expect them to travel. But this is Ketchum, things are not so simple or predictable. There is redemption through the dark, even hope (as there is in all of Ketchum's work), but it is a clouded and overcast outlook. And deliberately off-beat, off-kilter and idiosyncratic.

Unflinching, violent and cerebral. This is a challenging work that deserves to be seen. By no way is it perfect, but it is so much better than nearly all horror fodder today. This is the real deal. It is ugly and unsentimental, coarse and unrelentingly raw. This is what horror used to be like before it all went to hell in a basket of remakes and imitations. Jack Ketchum is the resurrection of the naughty gossip from the annals of the 80's video nasties. "Offspring" is why. Ketchum is a new-age provocateur and is one of very few people challenging taboos in creative ways. Well-done Andrew van den Houten for crafting such a work with integrity to the genre and the book. Anything less would be a disappointment.

Not for all tastes. It's almost art-house (or should I say art-abattoir?) A brilliant film. See it!