I have a confession to make. I will watch pretty much anything if it has Emily Blunt in it, I think she’s just so lovely. With this, sometimes things turn out better than expected, such as the charming Sunshine Cleaners and The Great Buck Howard; Then sometimes there’s the fucking Jane Austin Book Club. I don’t even know why I attempted that. Well I know why, I just should have known better.
Well last month I made a tweet regarding Ms Blunt being robbed at the Scream Awards (Seriously? Kristen Stewart?! Go fuck an electric fan voters!) and I was then messaged by an enterprising young film maker by the name of Toby Spanton. This chap had done a short film with Blunt which had been added to Itunes, so he was pimping it out like mad. I was over my head at the time, so I filed it away for later. Well I’m kicking myself now, because this was a nifty little short. So I’m taking a brief break from “Bad-Ass Bitch Month” to get back in the horror game with-
CURIOSITY (2009)
At ten minutes long, Curiosity doesn’t fool around with its time. Right from the get go it gives us everything we need to know. Young couple Mike (Tom Riley) and Emma (Emily Blunt) are coming home from picking up some items at the shop when they run into their elderly neighbour Mrs Kessler (Juliette James). During that brief “well we’re neighbours, I guess we’re obligated to have a brief chat” conversation, Mrs Kessler tells them that her nephew is visiting for the weekend. While they’re talking Mike inquires if Kessler’s seen another neighbour, Mr. Kelly lately. She responds that she hasn’t, but does seem angry at Kelly for constantly having to clean up his dog’s mess.
So there we are. Not even a minute and a half into this puppy and we’ve met most of the characters and we’re given a great deal of the important information we need to know. Mrs Kessler’s nephew is visiting, a neighbour has gone missing, and it’s one who she’s at odds with. Yet this is all presented in the form of an off the cuff conversation, so we don’t even realize we’ve been given what we need to know. When you only have ten minutes to play with, this was a pretty clever and natural way to get that stuff out there without seeming rushed.
That night Mike hears some strange rustling coming from outside, so he indulges his curiosity and peeks out the window, spying what appears to be Mrs Kessler dragging some strange bags in the middle of the night. Shit gets real however, when it turns out that isn’t Mrs K, it’s some creepy looking dude wearing her coat (James Payton). Shit gets even more real when said creepy dude locks eyes with Mike.
Let’s face it, if there’s one thing people doing shady things aren’t keen on, it’s being caught doing shady things. So the creepy dude intends to make sure his night is just like this blog- No witnesses.
As I mentioned before, director Toby Spanton makes really wise use of his ten minutes. The pacing is tight and despite the running time, it never feels rushed and we get a full fulfilling experience. With a lot of these home invasion thrillers, they tend to overstay their welcome and drag on into some tasteless territory (I’m looking at you House on the Edge of the Park), but this bad boy keeps it brief, brutal, and never boring.
My only complaint with Curiosity is that because of its run time, we never really get to know the characters, and thus never get to sympathize for them. Although I did, but that was purely because it was Emily Blunt. That said, I can see this being a plus for some people. With the characters being blank slates, it might be easier for for them to step into their shoes and see themselves in the characters, thus ratcheting up the tension.
But yeah, I really dug Curiosity and I think this Spanton fellow is someone to watch out for. He displayed a lot of talent and promise and I can see him really breaking out within the next five years. I can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve.
You can find Curiosity on Itunes for $2.00, so check it out.
