Horror Movie Review: Hungerford (2014)

If someone asked you what two styles of horror movie really don’t need to be made anymore what would you say? Chances are many will point towards the zombie and found footage especially if they’re low budget. Well, no-one gave the memo to writer, director and actor Drew Casson who decided to combine the two. Resulting in a run-of-the-mill horror flick that thinks it’s doing something different.

It’s not.

Easily one of the most frustrating watches we’ve had the displeasure of seeing in some time because it starts off so promisingly. In the small town of Hungerford, Cowen (Casson) and his friends are stunned to see a huge storm cloud appear over the town. It’s a hell of an event and Cowen insists on documenting it with a video-camera. As soon as it starts though, it is over and at first everything seems normal.

It’s not though.

Out of the cloud came alien insects that burrow their way into people’s necks. Once inside they can control their hosts turning them into mindless zombies (so to speak). As the town falls into chaos, Cowen and his friends; Adam (Tom Scarlett), Kipper (Sam Carter) and Janine (Kitty Speed) are forced to fight for their survival.

It’s not exactly an original idea. Taking elements from a number of better horrors but the concept is good. However, it is really executed poorly and the cheapness of the movie is glaringly obvious.

Bloody found-footage…

Being a found-footage horror, you have to expect a certain level of cheapness. However, it’s often being used as excuse to not show anything impactful on screen. That’s one of the biggest problems with Hungerford. We really see nothing which in turn just makes it feel even cheaper. The early excitement regarding aliens is completely lost. Especially once you realise we’re not going to see anything good.

As for the ‘zombies’, they’re even more disappointing looking. More like drunk homeless people then raging torrents of aggression. To diminish their threat even more though would you believe that to ‘defeat’ them and force the alien out is a simple can of deodorant?

That’s exactly what it takes here and it derails the film completely. What possible threat can there be from the alien infected zombies when a simple spray of deodorant to the face is enough to stop them?

The cast seem to be aware of this and their dialogue is often cheesy and the acting suffers. While no-one is outright bad, few are memorable and Casson putting himself in a major role may have been a mistake. He’s got talent and there is some promise in Hungerford but there are far too many issues to really make this worth watching.

The many big problems alongside the many small problems (empty town, lack of blood/gore, not enough zombies) just make it a chore.