An odd combination of horror subgenres, Oddity works with as an empathetic story with great set-pieces.
Odditybegins with a delicious horror conundrum.
When she hears a strange noise, she rushes back into the house and locks the door.
The man begs Dani to let him in, a request she denies until he comes to the point.
The man claims that he someone else is inside her house.
He pleads with her to kick off the door before its too late.
Despite his intimidating appearance, the man seems sincere and kind.
What should Dani do?
However, this opening dilemma captures everything compelling and frustrating aboutOddity.
Is it about a madman with a glass eye?
Is it about Danis ghost haunting the house?
Is it about cursed objects?
Is it about the freakin terrifying life-size wooden puppet that Darcy brings into the house and everyone just accepts?
To Mc Carthys credit, all of these disparate threads do come together in a coherent narrative.
Oddityfocuses mostly on a single night, one year after Danis death.
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Oddityruns into its biggest problems when it tries to make sense of the setup.
Its in these moments that Mc Carthys attempt to blend horror subgenres becomes a problem.
Weve all seenkiller doll moviesand can accept standard genre beats in the absence of recognizable human behavior.
He succeeds despite the mismatch of subgeneres, makingOddityan oddity of a film indeed.
Rating:
3 out of 5
