The Lodge (2019) (a film review by Mark R. Leeper).

‘The Lodge’ is a production from Hammer Films. Hammer was a British company that specialised in horror and Science Fiction from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s. In 2008, Hammer came back or, as many claim, a modern production company acquired the right to use the Hammer name. The new Hammer has even taken images from the original Hammer’s films as part of their logo.

Their first film was the obscure ‘Beyond The Rave’, but their second was the much better known English-language version of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel ‘Let The Right One In’. That novel had been adapted in 2008 by Tomas Alfredson into a Swedish language film with the same title as the novel. This re-use of other material makes sense since Hammer won their stripes making English cinema versions of television shows and American horror franchises.

Frankly, I do not care if they really are or are not the original Hammer. They are making movies in the best tradition of Hammer Films. They are not in the same style but they are solid genre films made intelligently to make the most of a smallish budget. That is the best tradition of the original Hammer. Even if they only bought the name, they are doing well by it.

‘The Lodge’ is their eighth film. A frozen environment is the setting, leaving the viewer with a chilled feeling. Two children, their stepmom-to-be and a dog are trapped in an isolated New England cabin in the woods during a blizzard. The father has taken the car to go back to the city. Compared with old Hammer horror films, there is more atmosphere but the same or less character development. The pacing is slow, perhaps to add to the feeling of isolation. Soon strange things start happening. While not quite up to Hammer’s ‘Let Me In’ or ‘The Woman In Black’, it has its moments.

(c) Mark R. Leeper 2021

Released 02/07/20; available on Amazon Prime.

Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4)

The new Hammer Films productions are:-

Beyond The Rave (2008).
Let Me In (2010).
The Resident (2011).
Wake Wood (2011).
The Woman In Black (2012).
The Quiet Ones (2014).
The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death (2015).
The Lodge (2019).