The Woman

Overview

Depending on your tastes, the horror subgenre of torture porn (Saw, Hostel and Wolf Creek are three well-known examples) sits somewhere between the poles of either a gratuitous abomination or an artistic lens into humanity's darker proclivities. While we live in a world filled with humans inventing new ways of inflicting terrible physical and emotional pain upon one another, there is always the question of whether such things need to be recreated in fiction. One straightforward answer is: well, if it's part of the human condition, then it's suitable for art.

Enter The Woman, the latest indie horror creation from American director Lucky McKee, based on the novel by Jack Ketchum. The premise is simple enough: pillar-of-the-community Chris Cleek (Deadwood's Sean Bridgers) and his nuclear family become the guardians of a wild woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) that Chris captured out in the woods one day, and he is adamant that the woman must be civilised for the good of the town. The Cleeks are no Henry Higgins, however, and the film quickly reveals the disturbing home truths hidden behind their docile demeanours.

The Woman is definitely a card-carrying member of the torture porn subgenre, and anyone who is not a fan of graphic violence and complete disregard for human decency should stay away from this film. Having said that, The Woman is also playing into dangerous territory because of its key subject matter: the imprisonment and abuse of women. When The Woman screened at the Sundance Festival earlier this year, one audience member hurled insults at the film's creators until security hauled him out, and whether or not you think the film is misogynistic, its male leads certainly are.

Gore and controversy aside, The Woman does make for an interesting lesson in non-conventional horror film-making. The cheap shock scares used in mainstream horror films are non-existent, and instead McKee uses grinding sound design (similar to that of Gaspar Noe's Irreversible), acid-trip cross-fading and spinning cameras (again, Irreversible) to activate a different sense of terror within his audience. Does it work? Not always, sadly, and all three of these techniques overstay their welcome by the end of the film.

Another good choice is that all of the performances are understated, with some characters (rightly) coming across as almost shell-shocked, while Bridgers' relaxed attitude to brutality registers as real-world chilling. But it doesn't always work, and The Woman is marred by some shocking performances, such as a do-gooder high school teacher (Carlee Baker), who never seems to care about what she's saying. The often clunky dialogue also doesn't help the actors.

Overall, this film is going to turn most people off. However, if you do like your horror served extra rare, The Woman is definitely worth hunting down.

Image by Chelsea Boothe