Primrose Lane (2015) Reviews

• A by-the-numbers horror film with some really great technical work.

  trublu2152015-04-23

  I was lucky enough to catch a screening of Primrose Lane at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. While the festival was a blast, Primrose Lane was a bit of a let down. The film follows a couple who hole up in a remote house that happens to have nefarious elements within, leading the couple to a horrifying discovery. The story isn't anything groundbreaking or particularly memorable. Writer-director Kathleen Davison wears her influences on her sleeve and Primrose Lane demonstrates her ability to capture tension on screen but she falters in delivering the truly scary moments and this leads to the film having a very disappointing payoff. The performances are nothing to write home about, they're not bad but they're not particularly good either. The technical aspects of this film definitely are the strongest points here. The camera work is extremely well thought out and feels very professional in its execution; a nice color grade on it really captures the tone very well also. The lighting was also very well done and captured Davison's tone even further. Overall, Primrose Lane feels like it was made for die hard horror fans, especially those who seem to gravitate towards supernatural horror but, as a whole, the film didn't do it for me. Despite this, I feel that Kathleen Davison did demonstrate some great technical work that added to the suspense of the film and I look forward to see what else she has in store for us in the future.