UNINHABITED - ****

Directed by Bill Bennett. Starring Geraldine Hakewill, Henry James. 88 mins. Australia 2010 Certificate : 15 Genre : Supernatural Horror

DVD RRP £10.99 Blu Ray £14.99 - August 15th

Another horror movie with an “inspired by actual events” opening tag, this modest Australian chiller seems more “inspired” by Colin Eggleston’s superb LONG WEEKEND with its drip-feed creepiness set against a beautiful natural backdrop. In this case, attractive marine biologist Geraldine Hakewill and rent-a-hunk boyfriend Henry James are enjoying some alone time on one of the Great Barrier Reef’s 600 islands. They’ve got considerable natural majesty all to themselves and there’s plenty of time for intimacy, but gradually it becomes clear something is wrong. The discovery of mysterious old bones and random, sinister signs of intrusion (Hakewill’s underwear has clearly been tampered with in the night) lead to the discovery that They’re Not Alone.

Writer-director Bennett scores high during the first half, which is ripe with slow-burn unease and cannily makes the isolated setting as intimidating as it is idyllic. Genuine chills are achieved via small, quiet moments and incidental but unsettling details. Apparently human footprints keep cropping up despite the apparent absence of anyone else. An ominous shadow looms over the couple’s tent at night while something seems to jolt their wind-chimes on an otherwise still evening. There’s some chilly BLAIR WITCH-esque business with unidentified nocturnal noises and characters waking up to find strange, specifically arranged creations outside their tent like some kind of sinister game is afoot. In the most unnerving moment, Hakewill and James discover that someone has filmed them as they slept a la LOST HIGHWAY.

When UNINHABITED has to start explaining itself and peeling away the layers of mystery, it loses a lot of the initial creepiness. Genre clichés start to become more apparent, like the forehead-slapping “You stay here while I go and look” moment. Some silly, intimidating foreign heavies briefly take the movie in a whole different direction but add nothing to the overall effect. And the effective build up pays off with a standard vengeful-ghost revelation conveyed by a conveniently placed journalist who literally spells out what’s going on.

Hackneyed as it is, the 1920’s backstory is suitably nasty, and the exceptional setting adds huge production value to a small, derivative but often effective ghost story. There’s too much hokey dialogue and some telegraphed plot turns (watch out for the deadly Stone Fish!), but at its best the movie is genuinely eerie, and the twist ending – shades of CANDYMAN - is satisfyingly downbeat.

Steven West