#jon wright

I must say I got to see a lot of new and new-to-me movies that I really enjoyed this Blogtober! UNWELCOME is a flawed, yet also hugely delightful creature feature that director Jon Wright has described as "GREMLINS meets STRAW DOGS"--and that is exactly what it is! The STRAW DOGS part is a little murky, with an extremely menacing Colm Meaney leading his brood of angry rednecks in a mounting campaign of terror against the young English couple who have moved into a rural Irish cottage to have their first baby in peace. Each of the cast members are doing their best (Meaney is honestly terrific), but the movie seems to have a hard time deciding between rather broad black comedy, and the grim drama regarding the fate of the extremely pregnant Hannah John-Kamen. But let's be real, it's the GREMLINS part of the movie that you're really here for.

The couple is allowed to inhabit the cottage so long as they maintain the local tradition of leaving a daily bit of meat or offal for the little people who live in the forest beyond the garden wall. Naturally the skeptical modern intruders immediately forget their responsibility, bringing about the wrath of the Red Caps: vicious Boschian homunculi who are more than capable of taking down grown men. And these things are GREAT. It's been a minute since I've seen such an exciting, new monster in the movies, and I watched UNWELCOME twice just for them--and an extra half-a-time just to watch the Red Cap scenes! There aren't many images of them online and I think that's a good thing, not only to preserve the surprise (which is late in coming FYI), but because you really have to see them in motion. They are astoundingly convincing, beautifully designed, and just funny enough to remain threatening and scary. Even if you don't care for the human drama, the Red Caps are so, so worth it. Here's a link to the blog of screenwriter Mark Stay where he talks about their creation:

And by the way, I was so inspired by UNWELCOME that I tweeted at Mr. Stay about it, which totally delighted him. Just as people forget that when you say something nasty about somebody's movie online, the people from the movie can see it along with the followers you're trying to impress, it's also easy to forget that filmmakers (or whatever creatives) are sometimes accessible people who will love to hear how much you liked their thing--especially when it's a smaller-scale effort like this. One of my recent New Year's resolutions was to send more "fan mail" like this, and I don't always remember to do it, but when I do it's never a bad thing.

Described as “Gremlins meets Straw Dogs,” UK creature feature Unwelcome will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 9 via Well Go USA.

Broke Horror Fan is giving away two copies of Unwelcome on Blu-ray. To enter, email [email protected] with UNWELCOME in the subject line. In the body, include your name and mailing address.

One entry permitted per address. This contest is open to US residents only. Two winners will be randomly drawn next week.

Jon Wright (Grabbers) directs from a script by Mark Stay. Hannah John-Kamen, Douglas Booth, Colm Meaney, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Kristian Nairn, Chris Walley, Niamh Cusack, Finbar Lynch, and Rick Warden star.

31 Days of Halloween - Low Budget Horror 🎃 - 30/31

Grabbers (2012) dir. Jon Wright

Residents of an island off the coast of Ireland learn that the only way to survive an invasion of blood-sucking aliens is to stay drunk.

Grabbers by Jon Wright (2012)