The Cottage Fails to Live Up to Expectations

Writer and director Paul Andrew Williams is best known for the electrifying success of his first movie, London to Brighton, but fails to measure up this go around.

Jennifer Ellison plays Tracey, a mouthy mobster's daughter that has been taken hostage by two brothers, played by Reece Shearsmith and Andy Serkis. You might recall Ellison's performances in various theatre pieces, but mostly from her role as Meg Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera." I am always psyched about watching a film with Ellison, as she has incredible acting and musical talents, but felt like she didn't quite fit the character of Tracey. There were far too many foul-mouthed and cleavage scenes that didn't do her talents justice.

Both Reece Shearsmith and Andy Serkis gave amazing performances. Peter (Shearsmith) and David (Serkis) are brothers that kidnap a wealthy mobster's daughter in hopes to make some fast cash. The two butt heads throughout the entire movie, which becomes annoying very quickly, but has quite a bit of humor to it. The brothers are clumsy and obviously amateur crooks, so going after Tracey was a bad idea from the start.

Shearsmith was the dorky and wimpy brother that followed his brother's lead but had to fight him over everything. He played the part very well, probably because he looks like a dork in real life. I couldn't quite place my finger on where I had seen him before until I realized he was that loser Mark from "Shaun of the Dead." I didn't like Shearsmith at first, maybe because he was so wimpy, but he really pulled it off well. I was surprised to enjoy Serkis, as I found him terribly creepy ever since he was Gollum in "Lord of the Rings." His facial expressions were priceless and his dry humor saved most of the movie.

The film is painfully low budget, with outrageous gore scenes that look as if ketchup is being spewed everywhere instead of blood. The first half was rather boring, as Shearsmith and Serkis spend the entire time bickering. I felt like I was 8-years-old again watching my older brothers argue for hours on end. I almost stopped the movie, but soon came the second half where the toe-curling horror gore fest finally began. I found myself cringing and shutting my eyes a couple times, even though the gore scenes were obviously unrealistic. The script had quite a few humorous parts that made me chuckle, but ultimately didn't work with the horror element.

I think the transition between humor and horror should have been intertwined better. You would never have known that this movie was going to be a slasher flick from the first half of the movie. I never expected to go from kidnapping a mobster's daughter to being sought after by a random psychopath farmer. I am also disappointed the first half of the movie story line was mostly ignored and didn't add up to the ending. I think the movie was worth the watch but could have been much better.

I rate this movie a 2 out of 5. Wait for it to come out on DVD.