31 Nights of Halloween Horror part 24 - The Blackcoat's Daughter

The Blackcoat's Daughter
93 mins.
Dir. Oz Perkins
2015/Canada

In keeping with yesterday's Psycho II, tonight's movie is directed by Norman Bates' son Oz Perkins, most notable for his acting, but here has his directorial debut with The Blackcoat's Daughter.

To say The Blackcoat's Daughter is a slow burn is an understatement.  It's a nonlinear demonic possession film, but unlike most you have ever seen.  The story revolves around two girls at a Catholic boarding school during winter break.  Kat's parents have yet to show up to pick her up and Rose intentionally told her parents the wrong date so she could spend time with her boyfriend who recently got her pregnant.  Rose and Kat stay at the boarding school for another week while they wait for their parents to show up along with two other nuns.  Meanwhile a side story is happening with Joan who appears to have escaped from a hospital and gets a lift at a bus stop by a husband and wife heading to the town the boarding school is in.

It is hard to say to much without giving away what is the twist in the film.  Most of the film is taken up with darkened hallways and a feeling of isolation in the school.  Rose is meant to keep an eye on the younger Kat, but really seems annoyed with the responsibility.  Once Rose does decide to see what Kat is up to, she finds her in the boiler room of the school in some kind of ritualistic praise, and not to the god they are in school for.  Meanwhile Joan is a very quiet kid and is unsure and skeptical with the generosity given to her by the husband, the wife seems annoyed she is around.

Where The Blackcoat's Daughter succeeds is in it's portrayal of loneliness, which is really the theme of the film itself.  It's a slow moving movie, it almost has the feel of that scene in Fargo where we see from a window William H Macy scrapping the ice off his car in a snowstorm and he is just lost and frustrated to the point he starts smacking the ice scraper on the car.  We can literally feel the coldness and frustration ourselves in that scene.  The empty hallways, what little banter there is between characters conjures similar feelings the same way as the scene in Fargo.  We can feel the coldness of February and the isolation in the scenes.  There are definitely some sinister activities cultivating inside the boarding school, but we can't quite put our finger on what they are.  But when the shit hits the fan, it is far too late.  The violence was another aspect of the movie that was portrayed very well.  It has to be one of the most painful sounding stab wounds I have ever heard in a movie.  When we hear reports of someone having multiple stab wounds, 16-20 stab wounds, this movie shows you those over indulgent stabbings.  You can almost feel the knife plunging in each time and closing your eyes won't help with the agony because of the sound.

Where The Blackcoat's Daughter fails is in it's pacing.  It is a slow burn movie and there is nothing wrong with that, it seems to be the new trend in current underground horror films.  And while I actually really liked the end of the film, it is not so much of a payoff the way you might hope.  You can kind of figure out the way the two story lines converge before it is finally revealed, but by that time you are not really shocked or surprised.  You kind of expect it.  Also the exorcism while effective, has to be one of the most feeble attempts I have seen in a movie.

The Blackcoat's Daughter is a good movie, but I am not sure if it is a great movie and it might not be for everyone.  It is probably worth a second watch after you let it sink in the first time to really get the subtle gist of it.  When it is good, it is good, but it takes some time getting there.  Director Oz Perkins also directed last years I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House, which moves at even more of a snail's pace then Blackcoat's Daughter.  Pretty Things is almost poetic in it's delivery, it is like watching poetry in motion at times, however when we get to the shocking end, I found it so disappointing and out of character it practically ruined the movie for me.  If they just did some tweaks I would been onboard with, despite is's snails pace.  Oz Perkins definitely seems to be someone to watch, he has some good ideas and in time as he feels his way through the filmmaking process he will hopefully give us a lot more interesting things to watch.  In the meantime, tread lightly with The Black Coat's Daughter, it is a slow burn that delivers in the end but it will take awhile to get there.  Also turn the sound up, cause some of the dialogue is barely above a whisper, and if you miss something, it could lead to confusion down the road.  With that being said, the loud bangs will also scare the shit out of you as they penetrate the silence of the film.  Though the more I think about this film, the more I think I liked it.