Britain Can Do Horror, The Horror Just Seems To Evade The Hype It Deserves

Written by Scott Menzies

Philip Ridley has found success as a writer of children's stories, a master of contemporary playwriting and now as a scriptwriter for, and director of, British horror. Don't ask me how good his film 'Heartless' was though, because I didn't see it! When 'Saw MCCVII' was released its posters adorned the sides of buses, its trailers infected the mass media and its merchandise bled into our mainstream like a severed ankle being dropped into a well of syringes. 'Heartless' seemed to slip through our possessed fingers, though, despite the fact that it's probably tenfold better than many of its horror counterparts.

Apparently the film had a healthy five million dollar budget and grossed (if my maths skills serve me correctly) not even one percent of that figure. I'm sure it was a brilliant film too, and I'm sure the money was well spent BUT that's beside the point. An audience would have undoubtedly had a much richer experience of 'Heartless' than of 'Any Other Film With A Scary Man Killing Lots Of Helpless People With No Clear Motive Apart From That Of His Dark Past'.