REVIEW | Ryan Morrissey-Smith
- Director: Mia’Kate Russell
- Writer: Mia’Kate Russell
- Stars: Tarlee Fereday, Sophia Wright-Mendelson, Ben O’Toole, Bailey Spalding, Alexandra Jensen
It’s summer 1986 in Australia and Penny, Toni and Amy (Jensen) are going to have a quiet get-together to celebrate finishing school at Penny’s family remote beach house. Penny (Spalding) and Toni (Fereday) have an up until now, secret, burgeoning relationship. Unfortunately, Penny’s very unpleasant cousin Kat (Wright-Mendelson) comes to crash the party with the express purpose of getting revenge on Penny. After Kat gives Penny a drug laden cupcake, Toni and Amy kick her out of the house. When Kat’s loser boyfriend Angus (O’Toole) and his crew arrives to pick Kat up, the night begins to take a darker turn…
Mia’Kate Russell’s stylish, ozploitation-esque throwback is a B-movie that puts the characters through hell and back. Things get very grim in and despite the title, it’s certainly not the worst thing that could happen. When Angus and his cohorts arrive, you can guess where the film goes and you would be right, well mostly. Penny Lane Is Dead doesn’t shy away from the nasty, unpleasant things that happen in the film, in fact it rubs your nose in it. Russell guides us through a night from hell, choosing to show us some of the atrocities and lets us imagine those things that happen off screen or perhaps worse, makes us listen to them.
Despite the B movie feel, the acting in Penny Lane Is Dead is good all-around and ranges from measured to absolutely unhinged. Fereday brings a real strength to Toni, whilst still keeping her grounded, O’Toole dials up the grossest, lunatic moron in his Angus whilst Wright-Mendelson has the most to sell, with Kat being just about the most repellent character in a horror film for quite some time. Wright-Mendelson has fun going all out and she doesn’t always nail it 100 percent, but when she does it’s a delightfully maniacal villain, that will keep you grinning but also that you want to see her get a well-deserved comeuppance and that’s a good thing when you’re playing a bad guy (or girl).
There are a few funny moments that land, but mostly they are drowned out by the horrifying things happening on screen. The film leans into the female power aspect and that works even if it isn’t just male-on-female violence, and the violent finale is an all-female bloody Mano e mano.
Mia’Kate Russell has created a very entertaining horror film. Penny Lane Is Dead is a really well-made film that should fit well with the recent crop of fantastic Australian horror films.
Showing on Shudder August 28
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