Keeper

Osgood Perkins is described, and perhaps even celebrated, these days as one of the central figures of the horror genre alongside Jordan Peele, Zach Cregger, Ari Aster and Robert Eggers, one of the new auteurs with an unmistakable personal touch that can be felt from start to finish, consistently balancing narrative, structure and, of course, good old-fashioned creepiness.

And with Longlegs, The Monkey and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, he has cemented a reputation based on solid horror films that are also built on technical skill and a sense of particularly well-constructed suspense.

Keeper is a bit of an anomaly here, because not only is it far more traditional than the three examples mentioned, it was shot in the middle of a SAG-AFTRA strike while the crew was waiting to resume filming on The Monkey.

I'm not saying it's noticeable, but this is far more traditional cabin-in-the-woods horror, but with Perkins' sense of camerawork and especially suspense. To call it "clunky" would be going too far, because everything about Keeper is polished and polished well, from the razor-sharp set design to the effective music from composer Edo Van Breemen. However, it is more traditional and perhaps even conventional in terms of genre.

Tatiana Maslany plays Liz, who celebrates her one-year anniversary with boyfriend Malcolm (played by Rossif Sutherland), is invited up to his enormously beautiful house in a forest far from civilisation, but quickly becomes suspicious of the whole set-up. To say more would be to spoil a rigorous and precise sequence of events, except to say that the film's first act is bizarrely filled with clear signposting that something is up, that it almost feels intentional - that Perkins mocks the characters who remain passive even as the entire universe screams to leave the unsafe setting.

That said, there are always two phases to these kinds of horror films - before it all "goes down" and after, and Perkins demonstrates a solid ability to maintain suspense and atmosphere in both. However, the film gets stronger as it gets rolling, especially after Perkins drops this strange reverse convention by finally letting the film "get going".

Maslany in particular delivers an excellent performance, only partially backed up by a slightly stiff Rossif Sutherland. And since there aren't really any more characters than that, the focus remains almost exclusively on her, and thankfully so.

However, one could argue that Keeper becomes a collection of snapshots, or perhaps vignettes, rather than a coherent horror film. Again, we come back to the process of making the film. While a limited location can help to heighten the tension, the film feels a little too dedicated to a singular room, without really allowing us to explore the house and the layers. As a result, certain sequences become slightly organised, unfortunately.

It's not Perkins' best film, but you can't take away his ability to make horror films that work. Longlegs undoubtedly has more to say, and has a much more precisely developed mythology, but Keeper still stands out as better than most, and perhaps that says something about his talent.