A One Mann’s Movies review of “There’s Something in the Barn” (2023).
Out this weekend in cinemas “There’s Something in the Barn” is a comedy/horror that’s light on comedy and, to be honest, light on horror too.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
After the unusual death of an uncle, an American family of four go to live in his remote home in Norway. “You’re in Norway now” reassures the Bill (Martin Starr). “Nothing bad ever happens here”. But then the son Lucas (Townes Bunner) hears noises coming from the barn out the back.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong bloody violence, language, threat”.).
Talent:
Starring: Martin Starr, Amrita Acharia, Townes Bunner, Zoe Winther-Hansen, Koran Shah, Calle Hellevang Larsen, Henriette Steenstrup.
Directed by: Magnus Martens.
Written by: Aleksander Kirkwood Brown, Josh Epstein & Kyle Rideout.
Twitter Handle: #TheresSomethingInTheBarn.
Running Time: 1h 40m.
Americans in peril. Bill (Martin Starr), Nora (Zoe Winther-Hansen), Carol (Amrita Acharia) and Lucas (Townes Bunner). (Source: Vertigo Releasing).
“There’s Something in the Barn” Review:
Positives:
- It’s a fun enough ride, played largely for tongue-in-cheek laughs as the horribly loud and brash American family come up against the dour and uncommunicative Norwegians. Much fun is had between the gun-toting “shoot them in the face” Americans and the peaceable locals who eschew guns for negotiating international peace treaties between the Israelies and the Lebanese!
- The film retreads, with a twist, a range of other famous films, most notably “Gremlins” (down to their being “three rules), there’s more than a hint of E.T. and the general genre of home invasion movies. (I’ve been reliably informed (by my Flickering Dreams colleague the Reverend Andy Godfrey) that the film also steals from 2015’s “Krampus”: a superior film to this in his opinion). The family also reminded me distinctly of ‘The Griswalds’ on vacation in Norway! None of this is bad, since these are all good films – – and this movie does well to package them up into a novel reconfiguration.
- I particularly enjoyed the actor Calle Hellevang Larsen playing the part of the local barn-elf expert Tor Åge. There is something about lugubrious and deadpan Scandi’s drawling out their lines and being urged to hurry up in a crisis that I find intrinsically funny! (It’s why I so loved the Finnish film “Fallen Leaves” that comes out in the UK next week: watch out for it!)
Negatives:
- If horror fans are going to this for the gore, they are going to be disappointed, since the horror aspects of this are pretty minor (unless you happen to be a gnomophobic!) In fact, I thought with a bit of judicious editing, this one might have got away with being a “12” and so appeal to the young teen audience.
- The film is also not really funny enough to make it more comedy than horror. Yes, there are the culture-clash aspects of the plot which made me smile, not laugh. But I tired of these pretty quickly.
- Not the actor’s fault, but Nora (Zoe Winther-Hansen) as an obstroperous teen is a particularly irritating character. It’s pretty much a retread of the teen in “The Pope’s Exorcist” earlier in the year (who was also annoying).
My personal favourite turn: Calle Hellevang Larsen as Tor Åge, never one to be hurried from his pipe and slippers. (Source: Vertigo Releasing).
Summary Thoughts on “There’s Something in the Barn”
The director of this one is Magnus Martens, who’s last film was the pretty awful (imho) “SAS: Red Notice“. This, thankfully, is much better. If you go into it assuming it’s going to be a mild-comedy / horror-lite film, then you will have a good time. Its perfectly watchable. It just didn’t set my barn ablaze.
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Trailer for “There’s Something in the Barn”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZizrSrCiUvY .
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