damian mc carthy – Horror Ghouls

Isaac is a drifter who is suffering from amnesia. He is suddenly hired by a man named Moe Barrett who claims to be an acquaintance (whom Isaac doesn’t remember, of course, due to his amnesia). Moe wants Isaac to look after his niece Olga, who will occasionally go into a catatonic state, and he offers Isaac a good sum of money for this. Isaac says yes, and when they get close to the property it’s revealed that Olga lives on a remote island. First, Isaac wants to refuse the job, but after a little guilt-tripping he reluctantly says yes. That’s not the worst, though. Once inside the house, Moe shows Isaac a harness that he needs to put on which will restrict him from entering certain portions of the house, and he needs to put this on because that will make Olga feel safe. Oh, and on top of that he is also told that Olga’s mother went missing and that her father recently died in the basement after being locked inside there, as he suffered from extreme claustrophobia and killed himself when he couldn’t get out. There appears to be no limits to how stupid a character in a horror movie can be, because even after learning all this, Isaac still says yes to stay and puts on the harness after just a little more guilt-tripping. Yikes forever! In reality, even the most dim-witted person would have bailed ass long ago. As can be imagined, weird shit starts happening inside the house when Isaac and Olga is alone. When she is in her catatonic state he can’t even talk to her, but once lucid, she behaves oddly antagonistic towards him and carries either a crossbow around, or a creepy toy rabbit with a drum. Meanwhile, Isaac tries to piece together what really happened in that house.

Caveat is an Irish horror film from 2020, written and directed by Damian Mc Carthy in his feature directorial debut. It was filmed in West Cork, and the Bantry House that was used was owned by a friend’s family. The movie had a budget of around £250,000. The toy rabbit featured in the movie is one Mc Carthy bought on eBay, which was stripped of its original fur and sent to costume and prop builder Lisa Zagone to make its creepy design.

We have also already reviewed Mc Carthy’s second film, Oddity, which was released last year, and now we finally got around to watch his debut movie. And while it’s definitely very slow-burn and somewhat illogical, it really picks up the scares later on. The setting and atmosphere are solid, although some of it does get a bit ruined by the main character’s total lack of being able to spot the one red flag after the other. There are horror movies where a character is willing to do the most idiotic things due to obvious desperation, which can make the most insane setting more believable, but Isaac’s backstory is (intentionally) left obscured from the start. Most of the movie is set around him walking around the house, having weird interactions with Olga, and gradually finding out more about what really happened. Once things progresses a bit more, however, that is when Mc Carthy proves that he’s really got a knack for scary supernatural scenes!

Caveat is a movie that certainly takes its time to get things going, and you’re likely to feel a little annoyed if dumb characters is one of your pet peeves. But it sure does deliver some scares towards the latter part of the film, some which are reminiscent of the scares and atmosphere that could be found in the first Conjuring movies. There’s no doubt that Mc Carthy knows how to build up atmosphere that leads to proper scares, which is by no means any easy feat. His second film, Oddity, didn’t have quite the same amount of scare factor as Caveat, but that one had more of a solid ominous atmosphere throughout. There is already another movie in development called Hokum, and it will be interesting to see what Mc Carthy’s next movie will bring in terms on chills and (hopefully) scares. Because he’s certainly got talent in that department.

Writer and director: Damian Mc Carthy
Country & year: Ireland, 2020
Actors: Ben Caplan, Johnny French, Leila Sykes, Inma Pavon, Conor Dwane, Siobhan Burton, Sam White
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7917178/

Dani is the wife of a psychiatrist named Ted Timmis, and she’s alone in their newly acquired country house which they are renovating. Suddenly, Dani realizes that something’s wrong, and a man named Olin Boole appears outside the house. Olin is one of her husband’s former patients, and he claims that there’s someone in the house with her, and demands that she lets him in. Naturally skeptical of this seemingly unhinged person, she refuses. Until she actually starts believing him…and opens the door. Then we fast forward to one year after Dani’s murder which Olin Boole was believed to be responsible for, and Ted’s got a new woman, Yana, in the country home and appears to have moved on pretty well. Dani’s twin sister, Darcy, has not…she’s a blind clairvoyant with psychometric powers, meaning she can touch an object and sense its story. She also runs an antique shop, of course. Ted promised to hand her the glass eye that belonged to Olin, who is also dead, so he makes a hasty visit and hands it to her. Shortly afterwards Darcy makes an unexpected visit to Ted’s residence, much to Yana’s dismay, and she’s brought with her an odd and creepy looking life-sized wooden mannequin as a gift…

Oddity is an Irish horror film from 2024, written and directed by Damian McCarthy. It was shot in County Cork, Ireland, in a converted barn where the director also shot his first film Caveat. He worked on both films simultaneously. The creepy mannequin was created by effects artist Paul McDonnell, and since McCarthy is a guy who frequently browses antique stores, many of the props we see in the film are from his own collection.

This film surely is a slow-burner, where atmosphere and a creeping sense of dread is the foundation of what is essentially a straightforward murder mystery. It does have that classic old-fashioned ghost story vibe to it, and while the mannequin doesn’t necessarily play as much of a role in this movie as I initially expected, it does serve its purpose. The setting where Ted’s country house is almost castle-like in its appearance, and of course located far out in the middle of nowhere, helps setting the mood and a feeling of isolation. Haunted houses, murder mysteries and revenge isn’t an uncommon mix in the horror genre, but it is the excellent atmosphere that lifts Oddity up from what could have been standardized and too familiar. The creepy looking doll is of course also what keeps the anticipation up even higher.

Oddity doesn’t have that much to play around it, but it makes it all work nonetheless. It’s pure atmosphere and anticipation, and while the murder mystery isn’t really all that mysterious, the story still unfolds slowly enough while keeping you guessing a little bit. The ending is almost a bit sardonic, but also quite satisfying.

Writer and director: Damian Mc Carthy
Country & year: Ireland, 2024
Actors: Carolyn Bracken, Johnny French, Steve Wall, Joe Rooney, Gwilym Lee, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Ivan de Wergifosse, Shane Whisker
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26470109/

Tag: damian mc carthy

Caveat (2020)

Oddity (2024)