For the final day of Grimmfest’s Easter Horror Nights we have two black genre comedies that go in very different directions.
Keeping Company
Josh Wallace’s Keeping Company is very much an exercise in keeping its audience guessing, before revealing its hand.
We follow the journey of two insurance salesmen who become embroiled in a darker plot which has left a number of people missing in the local area over the past six months.
Just when you think you have things figured out Keeping Company takes a swerve roughly midway through and flips its dynamic and opens up its world to more twisted possibilities.
This is very much a survival horror with dashes of comedy that help to lighten the mood. The message is very much a metaphor for capitalism – eat or be eaten; make of that what you will.
The stakes are raised in devastating finale that may make you feel slightly guilty for chuckling and some of the scenes that played out beforehand.
Keeping Company is blood-soaked ride with some laughs, but it doesn’t bash you over the head with them.
Paradise Cove
If you inherited a house from a deceased relative, the last thing you need is a squatter living underneath and constantly getting in your business. This is the reality for Knox and Tracey who are looking to flip Knox’ deceased mother’s beach house but hadn’t counted on Bree mucking everything up.
Almost like the fly you just can’t manage to swat Bree is a constant thorn in their sides who we learn owned the house previous but lost it due to some ‘issues’. The performance of Kristin Bauer van Straten as the bizarre but oddly endearing Bree is fantastic as her no f*cks given attitude provides some laughs as she attempts to survive but also plots against the couple.
With paranoia setting in and Knox and Tracey starting to see her everywhere you get the feeling that they will be the architects of their own downfalls.
Paradise Cove is entertaining for the most part, but does slightly lag in the middle before stirring back up for a dark and twisted finale as we finally see everyone’s endgame. Its a bit of an anomaly as no one is really 100% likeable which leans in to putting on a face to suit your environment or as Bree describes it ‘Malibu Crazy’.
The conclusion is visceral and nasty and does leave us with what feels like unfinished business.
Bloody Flicks 