There was lots an anticipation for the Cineworld Secret Screaming 2, in the end, the movie turned out to be Cuckoo starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens which I hoped was as some of the other movies that I thought we could have seen had their trailers shown before the film’s BBFC Card was displayed on the screen.
As the title of the film came up there were plenty of people shouting, “yes” and I knew that we were going to be treated to something that may be an unusual movie but one that would certainly fit the evening’s Secret Screaming.
Seventeen-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) reluctantly departs America to reside with her father at a resort nestled in the German Alps. Plagued by mysterious noises and haunting visions, she soon uncovers a startling secret regarding her own family.
Cuckoo starts with a rather unnerving scene of an argument in a family home with a young girl shaking in a bed before she leaves the home and heads into the darkness of the forest, then we jump forward to the introduction of Gretchen and her family. That’s when the first lot of questions arise watching Cuckoo, such as who is this girl and why the hell did she run into a spooky-looking dark place!
All will be revealed as the movie progresses, but that is not where the weirdness ends, much like the superb Longlegs that we recently reviewed, Cuckoo sets you on a journey of unease. Not everything is as clear as you would expect it to be with the story. The strangeness of the characters also adds to the mystery such as Herr König (Dan Stevens) who has asked the family along to build a holiday complex, but does he have other motives for having them all there?
As I was watching Cuckoo I picked up early on that something weird was going on, Gretchen’s sister Alma (Mila Lieu) is silent until a moment we are introduced to a stranger who triggers something in the child who never speaks and uses sign language to communicate, but will all good stories everything slowly comes together in a somewhat surprising twist later on in the movie.
I am glad that we got Cuckoo as the Cineworld Secret Screaming, it was something that I was looking forward to and although it’s not an all-out horror, it’s a nicely shot and produced with a superb cast. Hunter Schafer is certainly someone to keep an eye on in the future and I loved her performance in Cuckoo.
Dans Stevens is always fun to watch, and he oozes some strangeness and charm in his role in this movie that gives you the feeling of not knowing at first if his character is good, bad or somewhere in between.
Seeing a movie in the cinema is always great when it comes to sound, and Cuckoo certainly makes use of that with a great mix of sound editing to bring you closer to the experience of seeing the movie on the big screen, as does the superb music by Simon Waskow. The same goes for the cinematography of Paul Faltz, the lighting, etc looks great with the dark scenes just giving you enough to see what may be in the distance, giving you an unnerving feeling of insecurity.
It’s nice to see movies like Cuckoo that take the horror genre a step away from the gore and hyper-violence and bring it closer to something that gives you goosebumps. Much like Longlegs and Nicolas Cage’s character, The Hooded Woman (Kalin Morrow) moves and reacts in ways that freak you out without being overly violent or bloodthirsty.
If you loved Longlegs and films of this ilk, check out Cuckoo, which is coming to Blu-ray and DVD from 25th November courtesy of Dazzler Media.
Dazzler Media presents Cuckoo on 4K Ultra HD from 14th April
Hunter Schafer is Superb in This Horror/thriller
Movie title: Cuckoo (2024)
Movie description: A 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem.
Date published: August 13, 2024
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 42m
Director(s): Tilman Singer
Actor(s): Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas
Genre: Teen Horror, Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Summary
Director/Writer Tilman Singer brings us a “teen horror” with plenty of elements to keep most horror fans entertained. It’s well worth seeing for Hunter Schafer’s superb performance as Gretchen.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
