The story of a priest performing an “evil miracle” is giving film festival audiences the creeps.
The Overlook Film Festival is the must-visit place for fans of horror, as if the namesake of the famous hotel from The Shining didn’t give it away.
Taking place at the end of April in New Orleans, one of the highlights this year was a creepy chiller titled Don’t Leave Home, which takes place in Ireland and had the audience shivering in fright, according to early reports.
It tells the story of an artist (played by Anna Margaret Hollyman), who is inspired by real life crimes, and her latest piece documents the story of a number of famous disappearances in Ireland. One in particular tells the story of Siobhan, a young girl who had her portrait painted by a local priest (Lalor Roddy – Michael Inside, Grabbers). When the girl goes missing soon afterwards, her image also disappears from the priest’s painting.
The priest is cleared of any potential wrong-doing, and the locals begin to refer to the painting as an “evil miracle”. However, when the priest hears about this new artwork about Siobhan, he invites the artist to Ireland, with the intention of commissioning her for a new work.
However, once she arrives, she soon begins to feel that something is seriously amiss, and the artist begins to be haunted by hooded figures in her sleep, and it isn’t long before she is no longer able to discern what is really happening and what is imaginary.
The film is being name-checked alongside the likes of The Witch, Don’t Look Now, and Rosemary’s Baby, and the early reviews have got us quite excited:
“Don’t Leave Home works double-time to ensure a shiver still creeps up your spine.” – Birth. Death. Movies
“Settling into the film is like melting into Melanie’s own uncertain frame of mind, and as her creepy visions become more persistent, it’s all too easy to feel the same creeping terror that she’s feeling — particularly as the film takes some more bizarre turns in its latter third.” – The Verge
“[T]he atmospheric mood and persuasive performances keep you watching. It’s definitely on the more subdued end of the Irish horror spectrum, but that shouldn’t keep it from finding an audience…” – The Hollywood Reporter
The movie was picked up for distribution following the screening at the festival, so we should probably expect to see Don’t Leave Home on the big screen before 2018 is over.
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