Day 13 offers an occasionally tense, frequently frustrating take on occult suspicion in suburban America that attempts to set itself apart from others like it with mixed results.
Synopsis: Colton is convinced of the girl next door’s father’s ill-intentions toward her and aims to prove his evil, but doesn’t know or understand exactly the occult dealings he’s charging himself into.
People who know me, or have read this site for a while, will know that the surefire way to get me interested in a film is to whisper about the involvement of a cult somewhere within the runtime, so the synopsis for Day 13 obviously appealed. Unfortunately, the film runs into a few issues, mostly related to lofty ambitions on a lesser budget and some possibly due to this being a debut feature. That said, there are moments of well-crafted tension and a good idea at the heart, even if that is somewhat overshadowed by other elements.
Colton (Alex MacNicoll) is faced with a teenager’s ideal scenario: he will have the house to himself while his mother (Darlene Vogel), still reeling from the breakdown of her marriage, goes on holiday. Unfortunately, he is also tasked with looking after his younger sister Rachel (Meyrick Murphy), derailing his plans to party and further enforcing his new role as the responsible male figurehead of the family. His disappointment soon turns to intrigue as he sees the unoccupied house across the street has new occupants and one is a girl around his age. Heather (Genevieve Hannelius) and her adoptive father Magnus (Martin Kove) have a strange arrangement that quickly feels sinister.
Performances are solid across the board and although like me, your mileage may vary on how likeable you find Colton given his propensity for blatant voyeurism, MacNicoll does a decent job at making that character less immediately grating. Genevieve Hannelius is also doing good work as Heather, despite the script occasionally limiting her to a meek and mild teenager. Their chemistry develops and is enough of a driving force on the rest of the plot.
Despite a few questionable switches to first-person view when it isn’t clear whose eyes we are viewing the scene through the film handles the tension well with a house-searching sequence in particular skilfully building suspense. In the darker scenes, some details are lost but this adds to the scare factor and sense of the unknown.
The film does falter, however, in the use of some effects work that doesn’t quite sell it. The film itself is to be commended for the direction it takes, even if some small tells gave the game away early on for me (I’m usually quite bad at spotting those things, so I enjoyed being in the know for once) but it is a shame that the execution doesn’t quite live up to the ambition. While the narrative is well woven, there is a lack of scale and spectacle, leaving it feel a little flat. Still, it is difficult to be too harsh on a film for trying to set itself apart and certainly that spirit of wanting to try something new is present.
Despite a few missteps, Day 13 manages to sustain interest with a cast of good performances and plenty of tension.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Day 13 is released on VOD including Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Xbox, Playstation, Vudu, Fandango & Vimeo on August 4th
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