Many horror buffs will recognise the name of horror creative Ted Geoghegan.
His credits include the excellent slow-burn We Are Still Here plus notable credits for Mohawk and Satanic Panic (2019).
For his latest feature, Geoghegan collaborated with his own father on Brooklyn 45, a layered horror tale set, effectively in one room in a post-World War II, paranoid America.
The first thing to say is this is probably one of the best-written horror features of 2023 so far, it is textured and layered screenwriting that offers plenty of surprises plus a cast of characters with their own nuances.
It feels rare that a whole cast, even of five or six characters is fleshed out this much that by the close of Brooklyn 45 we feel like we’ve gone on a journey with them all.
When a group of military veterans gather for their friend who has recently lost his wife, they get more than they bargained for with supernatural shenanigans plus a host of long-lost secrets that come to the fore.
Geoghegan manages to straddle different parts of the genre and picks apart xenophobia and the Nazi paranoia that surely engulfed many countries post-WWII. Was the war really over? Not in some people’s minds, with Brooklyn 45 providing a commentary on the sacrifices of war in search of the ‘greater good’.
Brooklyn 45 is a compelling and intricate tale, well worth seeking out.
Brooklyn 45 arrives on Shudder on 9 June 2023.
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