{"id":24070,"date":"2017-01-30T20:37:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T01:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=24070"},"modified":"2017-01-30T20:38:20","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T01:38:20","slug":"dont-knock-twice-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/30\/dont-knock-twice-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Knock Twice (2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A young mother who gave up her daughter up during a troubled period is trying to reconnect with her years later.\u00a0 As they try to repair their estranged and strained relationship, they become plagued by the legendary Baba Yaga witch. Written by Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler and directed by Caradog W. James, the film takes a folk tale that originated in Old Russia and brings it to the UK and modernizes it.\u00a0 Together they create a horror film that will scare the uninitiated but may not do much for hardcore horror fans.\u00a0 There are a few well directed and developed scares that should work for all however.\u00a0 These happen in an environment built around the strained, but attempting to be rekindled, mother-daughter relationship.<\/p>\n

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Their struggles sometimes overshadow the scary going-ons making a film more dramatic than horror in parts.\u00a0 The characters developed here are somewhat interesting with the daughter, Chloe, coming off as the most interesting and the one the viewer can get attached to even if she has an attitude and quite a few flaws. The characters depending a lot on casting, the level of interest in each of them will vary depending on actor preferences.\u00a0 As Chloe, Lucy Boynton gives off an annoyed teenage vibe that quickly turns to concern and want for survival.\u00a0 She gives the strongest performance here.\u00a0 Player her mother is Katee Sackhoff who does show decent emotions at times, but she also spends some scenes looking completely disinterested in what she is doing, which does remove a bit of the connection to her character.<\/p>\n

Playing a detective who is not putting all his cards on the table, Nick Moran gives a performance that stands out in his few scenes, leaving a memorable mark on the film. The interactions between the characters are oftentimes in the light; however the witch, or Baba Yaga, is shown mostly in partially dark to almost fully dark scenes to keep some mystery to her and this works well for her look and scare factor.\u00a0 The special effects are fairly good with practical effects done under the supervision of Real SFX Special Effects Coordinator James Smith while the visual effects are done under Visual Effects Coordinator Jessica Saunders and Visual Effects Supervisors Kirat Gurung and Christian Lett.\u00a0 These effects being kept almost minimal for most of the film, they are restrained in most scenes and work with the story in terms of the witch\u2019s apparitions.<\/p>\n

Framing these effects and the cast is the cinematography by Adam Frisch who makes the most of a huge, beautiful house, using its style, layout, nook, and crannies to the best of their possibilities.\u00a0 His framing paired with the editing by Matt Platts-Mills help the story along and help create some fear where there may or may not be anything or anyone lurking in the shadows and the corners.\u00a0 Their work put together help add some suspense and show the villain without fully showing her until it\u2019s absolutely necessary.\u00a0 Their work, with director James shows an understanding that sometimes less is more.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Knock Twice takes an interesting subject of the Baba Yaga, once that could use an in-depth exploration as her legend is interesting and has the potential to be truly, actually scary.\u00a0 Don\u2019t Knock Twice has a few moments of genuine fear that even hardcore horror fans should appreciate and a few more moments that should catch more casual viewers by surprise.\u00a0 The effects are decent but keep the witch mostly to dark corners and shadows which does work to the story\u2019s advantage.\u00a0 The cast does well in general with Lucy Boynton showing the most acting chops.\u00a0 The film turns out to a bit run of the mill for fans of the genre but should interest fans of Katee Sackhoff and the more casual genre viewers.\u00a0 It\u2019s entertaining enough and is an easy watch.<\/p>\n