Horror Movie Review: There’s Something in the Barn (2023)

Directed by Magnus Martens and written by Aleksander Kirkwood Brown, There’s Something in the Barn is a Norwegian comedy horror film. One that stars Martin Starr, Amrita Acharia, Kiran Shah, Townes Bunner and Zoe Winther-Hansen.

The Nordheim family have left America to move to a remote cabin in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, having inherited the land from a distant family relation. A move that would be hard on any family, but a move that is made all the more difficult by the complete lifestyle change.

Bill, the father is oblivious to his families’ concerns, just excited for this new adventure, and his wife, Carol, does her best to be supportive even though she has her own reservations. Bill’s daughter (Carol is her stepmother) Nora is extremely against the move, and being a teenager, you can completely understand why. Whereas the youngest member of the family, Lucas, is willing to give it a try. Taken in by the snowy and peaceful locale, he enjoys exploring and is fascinated by the huge barn nearby.

It’s in there that he discovers the land has an additional occupant. A ‘barn elf’, a sort of humanoid creature that legend says will help out around the place, provided certain rules are followed.

Rules that this family will inevitably break, leading to one extremely angry elf. An elf that wants rid of them, and is willing to reach bloody levels to ensure it happens.

There’s Something in the Barn has so much promise, but sadly fails to live up to any of it. Billed as a comedy horror film, the film struggles to make either significant, and ends up being extremely unbalanced. It’s an attempt to do a Norwegian version of Gremlins, but with elves instead, and it just doesn’t work.

Part of the reason it doesn’t work is that it’s not funny, it’s not scary, it’s not particularly graphic, and it’s got far too many silly moments. Moments that start to reach slapstick levels, and come across really awkward.

It really is a shame as the film looks and sounds so festive. The location is gorgeous, Christmas is front and centre, and the cast all put the effort in trying to make it something more than it actually is. As a family, they are believable and the dynamic between them is watchable. The issue is the writing, and There’s Something in the Barn’s script really doesn’t know what it wants to be. There are so many bad jokes and missed opportunities to do something funnier.

The longer it goes on, the more the feeling of disappointment sinks in. It doesn’t get any better, even if there are some welcome ‘bloody’ moments in the latter part. It’s just too little, too late.

Is it terrible? No, of course not. It’s more than watchable and has plenty of moments that are fun. Just lower your expectations, it’s not as good as it promises to be.