Acorn Media International, out now

A lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman in an abandoned house on an isolated island.

The unreliable witness is a common horror trope, their testimony coming under even greater scrutiny when they themselves don’t know what is or isn’t real. Isaac (Jonathan French) has just been released from hospital, suffering from partial memory loss. He accepts a job for some easy money – look after landlord Barret’s (Ben Caplan) niece Olga (Leila Sykes) for a few days – but there must be a catch?

Like I said, easy money – 200 Euro a day. It’s in a remote location, namely an island in the middle of a lake, and one minor caveat that only gets mentioned when they are onsite: Isaac has to be secured in a harness which is attached to the ground. This isn’t some strange fetish kink, it’s to stop Isaac from going in to Olga’s room. And so begins a nightmare for the former patient who slowly begins to fill in the gaps in his memory while discovering the secrets hidden with the walls of the dying house.

This is the feature debut of writer/director/editor Damian Mc Carthy and he has a fine eye for the creepy. Foxes howl at night, there’s a disturbing painting that keeps turning itself around, and a wind-up rabbit with human-like eyes trundles into the room, banging its drum to its own beat.

This psychological horror makes significant use of  Bantry House in County Cork and played to great acclaim at FrightFest. A dark room is probably the best place to watch the movie, as often there’s little to see on screen but the sweep of a torch. Are there ghosts in the house, is Olga the monster here, or is there something more sinister in the cellar? Working out the answers to these questions is all part of the fun.

Acorn’s disc features lively commentaries by both director Mc Carthy and producer Justin Hyne, and there’s also a set of production storyboards.

Verdict: An assured, low budget horror that thrives on a dark, dilapidated, old house with secrets in its walls. Watch out for that bunny!  8/10

Nick Joy