The Loved Ones
- Jayde Walker
- Apr 3, 2011
- 2 min read
This stock standard horror merges Carrie, The Last House On The Left and Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a high school hunk experiences the worst prom date ever.
What’s the deal?
Local kool kid Brent (Xavier Samuels) rejects an invitation to the school dance by class outcast Lola, aka 'Princess' (Robin McLeavy). Bad move, mate. Turns out Princess is a closet delusional psycho sadist with a huge Electra complex for her equally nutty 'Daddy' (John Brumpton). As the song goes, whatever Lola wants, Lola gets - and little man, little Lola wants you. Poor old Brent doesn't stand much of a chance when Lola plots a horrible revenge on him involving some steak knives, a shitload of kitchen salt and an 80s-style pink prom dress.
It’s good!
McLeavy is remarkable, playing Lola with the right combination of pathos, little-girl meanness, psycho-manipulative sensuality and bat-shit crazy. The weird love triangle dynamic between the cast is richly scripted and acted, particularly Brumpton’s fabulous mixture of fatherly moral outrage, titillation and jealousy during some of Lola’s more sexually sadistic interactions with Brent. Samuels plays the victim-hero perfectly – the torture scenes and clichés could come off as a bit cartoony by a weaker actor, but he manages a perfect combination of fear, outrage and anger.
What’s wrong with you?
It's marred slightly by a lame subplot involving secondary characters Jamie (Richard Wilson) and Mia (Jessica McNamee) at the prom. I realize it was creating comic relief to offset the gorno but didn't think it was needed as it fell flat. Another technique could've worked better - for example, Wolf Creek managed to create ‘rests’ by splitting the action between the three main victims.
Neo-Maxi Zoom Dweeb-ery
There's psychosexual, almost Freudian, theories in horror where the genre is allegorical for sexual awakening and end of childhood. The Loved Ones perfectly examples this - it’s also quite ironic that there are psychoanalytic paradigms within the script (such as the Electra complex mentioned above). The sick, Pretty in Pink-esque home prom not only serves as Princess’ transition from spoiled child to seductive woman, but also her graduation from Daddy’s willing accomplice to sadistic leader.
Truth?
A top debut feature effort from Sean Byrne and a worthy addition for any horror collector, with some very smart handling of the genre. Great, great acting.
Bender Fist Pumps
3.5/5
