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Really good horror is hard to pull off. It takes restraint, attention to story, and a deft director to handle the many, many mechanics of strong atmosphere. Director Lucky McKee, behind the camera for The Woman, does exactly that and produces one of the best horror films of 2011. The violence isn’t man on man. It’s man on woman. Torture porn it is not, but – truthfully – this is a movie for the strong-stomached and not easily offended crowd. It’s a quiet film, for sure, but it screams with rancid beauty on its way to the slaughter yard.
The Woman is a difficult film to watch. It’s Americana values turned on its head. A feral woman, once wild and free, is enslaved and taught manners. Not content to be about only one thing, The Woman challenges its audiences with heavy material most films shy away from.
Introduced as your average American middle class family, The Cleeks certainly appear to be – ahem – normal…when in a crowd, that is. Nothing could be further from the truth when isolated from friends and relatives. No, The Cleeks are just this side of too far gone and out. Chris Gleek (Sean Bridgers), the father, leads with a vacant look but a commanding voice. He slaps Belle (Angela Bettis), his quiet wife, when she questions his actions or the decisions he makes for the family…including the one that will undue his family for good. She mentions his mistakes…especially what he is doing with the dogs….
Their son, Brian (Zach Rand, is darkly disturbed and loves to poke living things with sharp objects and perfect his free throw skills. Darlin’ (Shyla Molhusen) is their youngest and brightest, but seems to be unaffected by the general weirdness in their home while their other daughter, Peggy (Lauren Ashley Carter) hides her pregnancy and a deep dark secret.
It is into this modern American volcano that Chris, after discovering her bathing in a river stream, decides to bring The Woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) home to roost. She’s dangerous (the first day she bites off his ring finger), dirty, doesn’t speak the language, and wild, wild, wild. She’s also a wee bit on the attractive side. And, Chris can’t let her go. No, he chains her in his basement. Turns out, Chris and his son are a bit of a psychotic team and their brutality toward the women in their lives has just begun.
This can’t end well, right?
Based on Jack Ketchum’s novel and co-written by McKee, The Woman knows exactly the weirdly wonderful path it follows. It embraces it and creates a memorable one with an ending that rips right into the very fabric of family matters. Unsettling as it is, The Woman holds a magnificent spell over its audience and doesn’t let go until the final – and genuinely badass – frame. Go ahead and guess what’s happening in those moments, wilderness reclaims its territory? The nuclear family for the modern age? Who knows? It’s seriously creepy, though.
Throughout the narrative, McKee shows great skill at the helm. He plays with sound effects and establishes a mood that only gets darker was the film reveals itself. He has a great control of sequence and establishes wonderful takes that are both artistic and independent. The vibe of The Woman is fresh, fresh, fresh in spite of a set-up that, on a surface level, seems supremely limiting.
Brutally engaging, McKee’s film does not go quietly into that dark night of horror. It’s a menacing little film and, quite possibly, might disturb you more than a film like Dead Girl did. You’ll find razor sharp wit, too. Full of brazen performances, The Woman demands an audience and who here is brave enough to disappoint her? Not I.
MPAA Rating: 
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