Small Town Folk (2007) Starring Greg Martin, Hannah Flint & Simon Stanley-Ward Directed by Peter Stanley-Ward Written by Natalie Conway & Peter Stanley-Ward

And so, immediately we see a problem with the premise of Small Town Folk; the fact that it's a story we've heard many times before. On top of the aforementioned movies, as a British horror-comedy it's following in the wake of The Cottage, a slightly overrated but nonetheless agreeable addition to the rural survivalist genre. As such, it's hard to fight the urge to dismiss Small Town Folk as just another cheapo straight-to-DVD cash-in. However, if the viewer can find it in themselves to fight that urge, there are some pleasant surprises in store. While it's a long way off being innovative, real efforts are made to do something a bit different with a familiar concept, and there are genuine signs of a unique creative spirit at play here.

First off - now brace yourselves for this... there isn't a great deal of gore. Yes, I know, that's a shocker. Secondly, there's no sex or nudity (though there is an amusing cock-block moment and one particularly tasty arse shot). There are also only a few brief moments in which people are dragged kicking and screaming through the dirt begging for their lives. In short, the emphasis here is not on pain, suffering, or T&A. (Aside from that one shot. Around about the 30 minute mark. I'm serious, it's very tasty. Opening shot of Lost in Translation tasty.)

Instead, director Peter Stanley-Ward (yes, the kid playing Marcus is his little brother) has taken a leaf out of Peter Jackson's book and placed the emphasis firmly on fun. Often when we talk of no-budget indie horror taking influence from early-days Jackson, we take that to mean extreme bloodshed. But gore was only an element of Jackson's arsenal, his true weapon of choice being bold, brash, absurd humour. So it is with Small Town Folk. No attempt is made to match the brutality of Roth, Zombie, Aja et al. Instead, Stanley-Ward crafts a cartoonish world in which the bad guys are gurning buffoons, and a helpless nerd can actually fight back. Indeed, by the final act proceedings more or less bypass horror completely in favour of action-adventure, which is not something you see everyday in a cheap and nasty film of this nature. That the acting and dialogue are also by and large considerably superior to most films of this ilk certainly doesn't hurt.

Also noteworthy is the very unusual visual style. Another key problem with today's indie horror - and it's one that a lot of people, for some reason, don't want to admit - is that DV photography by and large just looks shit. While the top of the range digital cameras may reap good results (say, the Star Wars prequels and the Grindhouse movies), the more usual cheaper DV simply can't achieve the same feel as film, and wind up largely scuppering the efforts of up-and-coming filmmakers. Small Town Folk makes an interesting attempt to bypass this by shooting largely on blue screen with digitally imposed backdrops - think Sin City and 300 on a shoestring - the result being a complete sense of detachment from reality that feeds the sense of cartoonish otherworldliness.

Still, having said all this, Small Town Folk isn't about to rock anyone's socks off. While the approach may be refreshingly different, it's still an overly familiar story that we've all seen innumerable times. But I truly hope this is not the last we see from Peter Stanley-Ward and company. Anyone that manages to get in one scene cameos from both Warwick Davis AND the guy who played Rabies in Maid Marian and her Merry Men (I'll be impressed if any of you across the pond know that one) immediately gets my respect. This is clearly a director with more than a few tricks up his sleeve, and unlike many first timers it's clear he has a true understanding and appreciation of what makes cinema exciting. With a more original premise, a slightly sharper script, and a bit more money, there is not a doubt in my mind that this guy could come up with something truly special.

And when that day comes, folks, don't forget you read it here first at BthroughZ.