The Wasteland Reviewer

Oddity (2024) Written Review

How much fear can a wooden man cause? Folk horror classic The Wicker Man certain caused quite a bit of fear with its towering flames. But writer/director Damian Mc Carthy has a different kind of wooden man in mind for his new horror film, Oddity. This one is much smaller…yet so much more terrifying. A tale starts with a mysterious murder of a woman in her own home. The blind, psychic sister of such a woman begins to make some interesting choices including dropping in on her former brother-in-law and his new beau. Stuck inside an unnerving structure that looks like it was created for a horror film, Carolyn Bracken’s protagonist wants to get to the bottom of her sister’s death. 

How well does Mc Carthy deliver on the horror front? This film is incredibly terrifying. There are countless moments that deliver bone-chilling scares in ways that are quite unexpected. Mc Carthy creates a harrowing and dread-filled atmosphere that is unnerving for every second of the film. Once the mood is set, Mc Carthy is ready to really dig in. The wooden man which Bracken’s Dani brings with her is designed in a way that is incredibly off putting. Its she                                                                                      ar presence is foreboding enough but things get considerably more interesting than that (which makes for some horrifying sequences). The editing (shout out to Brian Phillip Davis) is top notch and creates multiple jumps that will literally make you jump in your seat. The visuals of the film are just as foreboding and eerie as they tie the whole film together in an impactful way. You only must look at the costuming, production design, and props paired with the cinematography (Colm Hogan) to see how horrific it all is. 

How about the story? The narrative structure is relatively simple. There are some flashback flourishes that provide good service to unraveling the mystery. But the layers to the “why” of it all keeps it interesting. The supernatural elements around Dani create some great scares and some interesting progressions in terms of the story. The truths behind the death that started these events make for some impactful drama as well as horror. This might be a mystery but there seems to be a bit of revenge along the way as well. Our protagonist is a medium and runs a cabinet of curiosities…there are plenty of unexpected and eerie elements to play around with. There might be some expected bits to the story, but it never takes away from the core competencies of the film…scares. 

How are the performances? Bracken does well to leverage her meat traits and looks to create an unknowable and unexpected woman who is an interesting figure to follow in this film. Caroline Menton is in the film fleetingly, but she helps make the opening stalking scene so authentic (and praise to the stalk himself who offers quite the uncomfortable performance (fitting right into the maddening setting of the film). The rest of the cast do find in selling the growing tensions throughout the film, but it is such a strange occurrence that a wooden mannequin delivers one of the best “performances” in the whole film. 

Is Mc Carthy’s new film going to fit well in the abnormally impressive year for horror? It sure does earn its spot in good company and might even deserve some space at the tippy top. The atmosphere and aura that Mc Carthy created is both scary and realistic. There are not many realistic moments as the film begins to race towards its finish but the best scares of the year just might belong to the horror mystery but there is plenty of impact to go around.