Caveat (2020)
Director: Damian McCarthy
Starring: Ben Caplan, Johnny French, Leila Sykes, Inma Pavon
Primary genre: Supernatural
Secondary genre: Horror
Irish powerhouse director-writer-editor Damian McCarthy deserves more mainstream recognition for his horror outputs. Showing promise, with each one he improves not only stylistically but thematically too able to structure engaging and terrifying supernatural stories that tap on humanity’s primal fears.
Caveat is a simple, high concept story supported by some truly ghoulish images. Boasting a delightfully decayed production design by Damian Draven and a moody and grim cinematography, this countryside tale of not-your-typical-babysitting job captures your attention immediately. Unable to remember who he is, drifter Isaac takes a job at a small remote island. To speak or describe more, might spoil the few surprises McCarthy has in store for us. Rest assured though. His various mechanisms for suspense like having our hero strapped around the house with a lengthy chain (to alert the house’s sole resident, Olga where he is in case she feels unsafe) or a dowsing rod toy are delicious recipes for a plethora of confidently tense moments and not excuses for lame jump scares. Let’s say you won’t be looking sealed crawl spaces the same way anymore, that is certain.
“I don’t see what the problem is. This is a job. Every job has a uniform.”
The house being on a small lake island helps McCarthy to avoid plot holes (e.g., why you don’t leave when s** hits the fan) with conviction plowing through an unbearable atmosphere of dread under tight shot framing and nerve-wrecking sound editing until the superb climax. Even in that case though, his script does not follow the James Wan exposition route behind supernatural mysteries (e.g., Insidious (2011), The Conjuring (2013)). Instead he is more of an Irish take on Hereditary (2018). Like Isaac, we are piecing the clues together in real time from a single perspective requiring us to pay close attention affecting a bit the middle section in terms of pacing. By the end, few things will have different meanings or resolutions depending your own perspective since McCarthy reveals slowly one card at the time. As such, Caveat succeeds wholeheartedly to keep you invested.
It might be low-budget horror but it does not look like it making effective use of its small scope and scale. Instead, Caveat feels very cinematic with its creepy imagery potentially haunting you for days, especially if you watch this alone on a rainy night. It’s clear McCarthy is destined for bigger and better things establishing him as a new and most importantly, original voice in horror.
Superb supernatural horror
+Terrifyingly tense
+Unnerving sound design
+Nightmare fuel house
+Clever horror mechanics
+Likeable hero
-A bit of pacing issues half-way through