In the mid-1980s, there was a strange story where 17-year-old Vicky Maloney was randomly abducted from a suburban street by a couple who were annoying, which could make it even more disturbing and dangerous. Perhaps on that exciting trip to the girl, Vicky complains of the many problems plaguing her captors and is in tune with marital issues following the recent split of her parents where it seems to be the same. It seems that Vicki is still fighting for her life with a serious and exciting attempt in her life.
Hounds of Love is a sinister, psychologically screwy thriller that stands on its own merits, radiating a dreamy, deviant vision of female subjugation, and empowerment.
Young is more interested in the abused than the abuser, and the result is an ambitious, tough-to-swallow drama fuelled by fearless performances and extraordinary empathy.
It's a tense, sharply assembled debut feature from Ben Young. Its main problem, though, is that it never answers a basic question: Why are we watching this?
The central performances are riveting ... but the torture Young depicts, even only if it's suggestive rather than blatant, can be difficult to digest over the course of almost two long hours.
The snail's-pace horizontal pans, under-the-flight-path score, and other arthouse affectations had collided with the overall unlikeability of the major characters violently enough to make me consider jumping ship.
What is it about Australian filmmakers and down-and-dirty, no-holds-barred crime dramas? Let's not figure out why they're so good at them and simply enjoy.
