Isolation

Isolation, made in 2005, directed by Billy O`Brian

In Aberystwyth, the majority of you will have heard of the recent Abertoir film festival that took place in the arts centre, Halloween weekend of 2006. On the first day we had a mystery screening and as I sat comfortably in my seat, the title `Isolation` came up. Its premise is experimentation going seriously wrong on a rural Irish farm.

I was lost for the first 30 minutes as it focused on the concept of `attack of the cows` but suddenly the underlying ideological purpose of the movie eventually started to seep through (finally). As best as I can describe, the plot centres around the ethics of cell manipulation and experimentation on animals, focusing on out of control parasites growing inside a calf that is inside a cow, don`t ask!

Once you get past the silly plot, it actually turns into a damn good movie and the special effects are very impressive for a low budget British film which in a sense reminded me of `The Descent`. There is some pretty decent camera work used (handheld camera does maximise the tone of the piece in terms of unpredictability) and also the quick cut editing is visually impressive. There are a few jumpy moments that add to the tension and suspense i.e. a parasite slowly making its way under the bed covers. However I was very, very annoyed when one segment focused on a woman on an operating table, where she has died from a parasite, leaving a huge hole through her stomach. It reminded me of alien, and the actual growth of the parasite was reminiscent of `The Thing`. The film uses intertextuality to the extreme and took away its originality (even if the plot was unrealistic).

In terms of characters, the main protagonist Dan (played by John Lynch: Sliding Doors) is brilliant as the lonely considerate farmer but Essie Davies who played Orla was terrible. There was no reason for her character (who was a vet) to be in the script, the only memorable thing she did was at the beginning when she stuck her hand up the cows arse to check whether the calf was ok. However, I did like the other female protagonist Ruth Negga who played Mary. A typical convention of a woman seemingly innocent at the start who then has to toughen up to beat the `big bad` at the end which reminded me of Ripley in a sense. Relating back to originality, it even stole from The Omen which was another reason I was annoyed at the borrowing of generic conventions from other films which I believe is what let this film down.

However, I would recommend this movie if you want harmless gory fun and as previously mentioned, for a low budget British film, this is definitely one to watch in terms of appreciating the input of effort by the filmmakers.

And if you want to see the trailer, click on play below, also click on the link above to take you to IMDB.