The Cleaning Lady

The place to discuss FrightFest 2018 - Dates this year are 23 - 27th August.
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jonbly
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The Cleaning Lady

Post by jonbly »

8/10 - I mostly enjoyed this one, but it was let down a bit by Shelly's motivations - which were all over the place.

Also... you don't keep hydrofluoric acid in a metal container, and it's more lethal as a poison than as an acid. Odd choice.
Alex J
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Re: The Cleaning Lady

Post by Alex J »

Takes a bit of time to get going, but this tale of obsession and how the characters are trapped in different ways becomes deliciously dark and twisted in a cracking opening to day 2. I loved the ending too,
Spoiler:
even if it was another bleak one!
8.5 / 10
No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering.
leytonrocks
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Re: The Cleaning Lady

Post by leytonrocks »

Totally agree Alex J :)
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WraithApe
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Re: The Cleaning Lady

Post by WraithApe »

7/10. Slow burn (no pun intended) psychological horror that goes to some pretty dark places. Definitely my kind of jam, even at 11.30 in the AM - there's nothing like mouse smoothie for breakfast. It's a bit one dimensional in terms of the way the characters are written and the whole thing feels slightly undercooked - I'm sure that latex mask could have been put to better use! - but it's a well-made, admirably dark psychodrama that should appeal to gorehounds and thriller junkies alike.
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The Soapmaker
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Re: The Cleaning Lady

Post by The Soapmaker »

I enjoyed this one at the time, but it seems to be fading in my memory pretty fast.... I think the filmmakers thought they were making something dark and serious and it did indeed start promisingly, but it all got pretty silly by the end. Shelly's motivations and intentions were all a bit vague, perhaps a little more thought could've gone into it.

They were right not to call it "Trapped" though. No point being one of a hundred similarly-named flms on IMDb.
StephenF
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Re: The Cleaning Lady

Post by StephenF »

I really enjoyed this too. What I didn’t particularly like, and thought unnecessary (possibly even a little lazy) was
Spoiler:
the association between the severity of Shelly’s disfigurement and her madness/monstrosity. It seemed rather old school, and it perhaps would have been more interesting if poor Shelly’s disfigurement was on the inside only - due to the awful treatment by her abusive (and obviously unhinged) mother. It was just that clear association between mental illness and external disfigurement/monstrosity that bothered me a bit.
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TheDukeAbides
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Re: The Cleaning Lady

Post by TheDukeAbides »

jonbly wrote: Sat Aug 25, 2018 1:26 am Also... you don't keep hydrofluoric acid in a metal container, and it's more lethal as a poison than as an acid. Odd choice.
This is my overriding memory from the film really.

A good film and well acted, yet another that could do with a bit of a trim though.
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