Director: Lawrie Brewster
Year: 2019
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: Automata
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Called out to a remote house, a man and his daughter are tasked with investigating a strange doll supposedly created hundreds of years before such figures should’ve been conceptually possible, drawing them into a deranged curse involving the doll itself, and they must find a way to stop it.
Review:
This was a generally solid if somewhat problematic genre effort. One of the better factors involved with this one comes from the immensely likable and engaging atmosphere created here, featuring the different elements coming into play. The initial setup of bringing them into the house on the outskirts of the Scottish highlands and finding themselves tasked with investigating a strange doll from a time period that wouldn’t have allowed such intricate mechanical processes to be accomplished serves this one rather well. This allows them to come out to the remote house without much in the way of obstacles to overcome as they set about trying to learn more about the strange doll at the house, eventually coming upon a series of revelations that tie its backstory into their quest, which are played out as flashback reenactments that are quite fun to see play out.
That allows this one to work as part of a series of strong, immensely effective haunting scenes that show the curse of the doll in fine form. The haunting backstory about the doll and what it’s really about gives this a great touch as we gradually learn more about the deranged persona behind the figure. That backstory also allows the scenes leading up to it to take on a greater sense of importance later on. Initially appearing as if this is a rather routine haunting about strange creeks and noises occurring in a remote house that feel all the more real due to the Gothic ambiance established within the remote mansion already, the different scenes of them investigating the dolls’ history and being tormented by the strange spirits at play with her being seen as a stand-in for the woman in the stories while he comes across as being possessed by her father, leading to a great Gothic tone as they go about their work.
With these features in play, the whole nature of what takes place turns into a standout tale on lust and desire, with the way the possession comes together. The more he looks into the history of the doll and how it all continues along, featuring the connection to the creator being this despicable despot lording a relationship over his daughter and her love, it manifests in some memorable encounters that border on incest when trying to play off the earlier attempts at seduction being introduced as a means of tormenting him. That lets the wild finale come together with quite a lot to like, even if it highlights the one issue here where it’s focus on these factors makes the whole thing a bit slower tempo than anything else. There’s a lot of time here waiting for the curse to take hold or them discussing what’s going on, which might not be all that interesting for those looking for more overt action or thrills, since that’s not the main priority here. Alongside the obvious limitations present from its low budget nature, these all manage to be its few detrimental factors.
Overview: ****/5
A wholly enjoyable Gothic horror effort, this comes across incredibly well in this particular style with only a few minor drawbacks that hold it down just slightly overall. Those with an interest in this approach, who don’t mind the issues here, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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