STARVE ACRE
Starring: Matt Smith, Morfydd Clark, Erin Richards, Sean Gilder, Arthur Shaw, Robert Emms, Melanie Kilburn, Robert Goodale, and Roger Barclay
Director: Daniel Kokotajlo
PRESTON
Starve Acre’s folksy eeriness is advanced through a slow-burning subtlety that is reminiscent of other 1970s horror films while being a kind of twisted, stylistic mix of The Wicker Man, Saltburn, and Pet Sematary. The cinematography and sound design are absolutely stunning, and Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark perform adeptly, even with a relatively sparse script. Some of its weirdness kind of lost me in the end, but I was mostly captivated throughout. If you watch the trailer, you should be able to ascertain whether you will love it or hate it - trust your gut.
QUENTIN
Like The Witch, Starve Acre is sluggish folk-horror that relies solely on eerie atmosphere, a mysterious animal, and a quiet farmhouse setting. It’s also a movie that movie nerds might tell you is amazing despite middling audience scores saying otherwise (The Witch won a slew of awards but has a mediocre audience score on Rotten Tomatoes — I even called it the worst movie of 2015). Movies like this are billed as great horror, yet have no suspense, even fewer scares, and almost zero narrative, all of which end up disappointing. So, use The Witch as your litmus test when deciding if this is worth your time.
PAIGE
Like other folk-horror films, Starve Acre moves slowly, but also has the moody atmosphere, eerie score, and strikingly desolate scenery that personifies the genre. While the film is primarily an exploration of grief and trauma, it is too tame and meandering, as it takes its time to get to where it wants to go. This mediocre horror film is more unsettling and weird than horrifying despite the hauntingly good performances from Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark. Ultimately, in the end, the film left me starving for more depth.
