Not Quite Perfect But Still Enjoyable – The Perfect Husband Movie Review
The Perfect Husband is a savage story of what can happen after tragedy strikes a couple. This is a terrifying psychological horror film that really leaves you on the edge of your seat before turning everything on its head with the ultimate twist. There is a lot more to this horror than meets the eye, it is unnerving, brutal and slightly disturbing that may leave viewers slightly disturbed and uncomfortable.
What’s It All About?
After a married couple suffer the tragedy of losing a baby, husband Nicola plans a few days in his uncle’s cabin in the country with his wife, Viola, to try and help them recover. Nicola wants to get their lives and their relationship back on track as they are both struggling to cope. As the dream holiday unfolds it soon turns into a bloody nightmare and things quickly escalate into chaos.
My Opinion
This was a solid story from writers Lucas Pavetto and Massimo Vavassori. The movie starts off slow with what seems to be a run-of-the-mill ‘cabin in the woods’ horror, but once the pace quickens things quickly escalate at a furious pace as the story unravels. A straight forward story turns very interesting and gives us an excellent and shocking twist at the end. The whole movie did leave me feeling a little unnerved and I couldn’t help but feel this was a brutal and slightly disturbing movie. The pair have managed to get a great balance in this story that was very satisfying.
The way in which the plot quickly shifts half way through the movie, from being the slow-paced suspense thriller to an all-out slasher did slightly throw me, as I wasn’t expecting it to change so quickly. This did add to the shock factor, and as a game of cat-and-mouse ensued in the wood I felt the tension levels soar up and the film began to head towards its shocking conclusion.
The only downside of the story wast that the characters were a little under-developed. I felt like the first half of the movie could have been utilized more to develop these characters and their relationship. A lot of the story was visual, leaving the audience to piece the character’s story together. If the first half of the movie could have given some more character development then it would have made the second half of the movie even more shocking as we would have had more investment in these people.
Lucas Pavetto was also directing and managed to put his vision onto screen very well. He takes some basic concepts and puts them into practice to build up tension and suspense. These simple things are very powerful and effective ways of pulling the audience into this movie. While he does not bring anything new to the table, everything he does is to a very high standard and stylish. You may be left feeling emotionally drained afterwards. He has presented a film of a high standard. We are given some fantastic shots in and around the cabin,and the clever use of lighting only adds to the atmosphere. The way it was filmed only added to the suspense. This creates a brilliant setting for the story to take place.
The film has some fantastic practical effects. A dream sequence featuring a baby was slightly disturbing but very well done. Some of the more violent and gory moments looked good on-screen, I was bought into everything. In the second half of the movie when the violence erupts we are treated to more blood and gore than some can handle but it all adds to the scare and shock value. Nothing looked odd or unrealistic, which can sometimes bring the audience out of the film, and the effects helped to push the story forward.
Notable Performances
Bret Roberts plays Nicola, the slightly jealous and over-protective husband. I thought he gave the best performance of the movie, he stood out to me as a good actor. I think he managed well with the emotionally struggling character, something that is not easy to do as this type of performance is as much to do with your body movement as it is with delivering lines. He definitely embraced the crazed actions of Nicola in the second half of the movie and gave us a great performance.
Gabriella Wright plays Viola, the wife in the film. I felt that Gabriella gave us a solid performance. She handled the more heightened emotional moments very well. There were a few instances when the performance seemed slightly generic but overall it was a good effort.
Carl Wharton plays the Ranger. This was only a small role but quite an important one with regards to the plot. Carl presented us with a slightly nervous character which I thought was a little odd, as I would have imagined a Ranger to be a little more confident out in the wild. This may be more to do with the direction he was given rather than his performance.
Daniel Vivian plays a Gipsy that Viola comes across in the in the wood. Daniel played this rather odd character well although I had the feeling this character was placed in the movie only to give us more shock and gore. When we first stumble across the character I felt as though it was a little out of place.
My Verdict
Overall I thought this was a decent entry into the horror genre, and a fine example of independent film. The movie doesn’t offer anything new or groundbreaking, but what it does, it does well. It starts off slowly and ends at a rapid pace before delivering a final twist that will leave you thinking about what you have just watched. It is a good way to end the movie and may leave you feeling slightly disturbed or uncomfortable. Well worth a watch for any fan of the horror genre.
