Perhaps my brain has popped around just a bit too much and after reviewing 200 films yearly how do you think your brain would be?
Of late many “horror movies” are more suggestive of the horror of mental illness than in ghoulish figures and spooky noises. Think of “Chucky” or “Freddy”. Both meet the definition of mental illness so are most horror movies but an analysis of severe mental illness?
Take for example the Canadian film “The Dogs”. Set in what some residents of Wolf Hollow in Northern Ontario call a haunted farmhouse in the isolated countryside. Yep, if it is not some isolated cabin in the woods why not an isolated farmhouse in the countryside?
City dweller Katherine Weaver (Kathleen Munroe) thinks she sees a car running outside her residence yet again believing it is her ex-husband who is a bit off although how much so who knows at this early point in the movie. She packs up like a streak of lightning dragging along sulky and moody teenage son Cameron (Donavan Colan) off to the countryside to escape her ex.
Mother and son rent a deserted and ramshackle farmhouse in Wolf Hollow through the services of realtor Ken Armstrong. Guess what? Cameron is terrified when he sees and hears mighty strange things. You viewers may be terrified especially when the story unfolds revealing brutal murder(s) and fatal dog attacks. And those salivating nasty dogs will give you the heebie jeebies.
No one believes Cameron when he tells them what he has seen and heard similar to many victims of horror who are often poo pooed. His stories sound far fetched and when he is not believed he becomes wildly aggressive and it is logical to think he has lost it. After all, his mother alludes to certain issues with her ex and frets to Cameron, “This is how it starts.”
Cameron secretly calls his father who in a cheerful manner hints Cameron’s mother is a bit off and given her quick flight seemingly irrational. Yes, she is a bit odd. Your brain is faced with the possibility any of Cameron, his father and mother are mentally ill. My take was Cameron is off the rails as after all he is under great emotional stress not having a happy mom and dad and by the way prior to arriving at Wolf Hollow has been suffering nightmares. This possible creep of Cameron’s mental illness caused chills to run down my spine.
You will conclude there is indeed mental illness in the Weaver family but you’ll have to watch the film to find out who it is.
A tale of brutal murder and nasty salivating canines. A guessing game who should be classified under the DSM manual. A thriller? A whodunit? A classic horror movie or a nouveau horror movie with its mental illness angle?
In Canada a broadcast premiere and availability on demand at Hollywood Suite on 26March2025.
RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film Rating 88/100.
Directed by Valerie Buhagiar.
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