London Voodoo
(2004)
review by Suspiriorium

Lincoln Mathers (Doug Cockle) is an ambitious New York analyst, who moves to London for a new job, along with his wife Sarah (Sara Stewart) & baby daughter Beth. Lincoln is so consumed in his work that his home life is suffering, so when his Sarah discovers a Voodoo tomb in their basement she is excited by it & convinces him not to report it. With the strange, troubled au pair Kelly (Vonda Barnes) becoming increasingly obsessed with Lincoln, Sarah’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic. Soon, Lincoln finds his controlled life spinning out of his grasp, as he has to confront seemingly impossible concepts & decide what is truly important in his life.

I have to confess as to having been rather nervous when I placed London Voodoo into my VCR. I was half-expecting the film to be a cheapo exploitation knock-off, filled with laughably cheesy effects & hideously embarrassing racial stereotypes. Thankfully, the film confounded these expectations & revealed itself to be a smart & compelling piece of old-school suspense filled with a disquieting aroma of menace. Debut writer/director Robert Pratten’s script can be seen as a response to the legions of horror films that treat Voodoo with a certain alarmist & sensationalistic tone that doesn’t do the truth justice, instead bringing to the screen a balanced & well-researched representation of real-life Voodoo. Whilst this may make it sound like a rather dry & overly serious film, unlike Revelation for example, this is not the raisen d’etre of the film, but rather a background for the central drama, driven by well-realised characters & concerned with ideas about the balance between work & family, & the sacrifices made for love.

It’s a risky decision to play a drama like this for serious, particularly at this budget level; whilst a gloriously gloopy & OTT gorehound approach will likely be popular, if the drama fails to work convincingly a serious approach will be virtually unwatchable. Credit then must go to the cast, who deliver highly creditable performances. Cockle conveys his characters loss of control with a compelling humanity even through his less likeable moments, whilst ex-girl group member Vonda Barnes (her first film role) is surprisingly effective as Kelly, even as the role goes to some rather dark places. But best of all is Stewart as Sarah, who attacks her meaty role with a vengeance, & even if we perhaps don’t get to know Sara quite well enough before the transformations start to occur, her development over the course of the film displays real talent & range.
Guiding us through this is Pratten’s direction, which through some choice cutaways & unusual angles builds suspense well & keeps the audience slightly off-balance. He displays a flair for getting through some key exposition & character points with visual means rather than crude dialogue. Steven Severin (bassist of Siouxsie & the Banshees) contributes a highly effective score, which builds the atmosphere through pulsing bass lines & moody electronics. At various points the film calls to mind earlier suspense classics such as The Omen, The Exorcist, Don’t Look Now, & Rosemary’s Baby, & whilst it is perhaps not quite in their league it is yet another example of modern indie on a budget done right, & can sit quite happily alongside such treats as Love Object & current festival fave Shallow Ground towards the front of this wave. It’s a highly enjoyable old-fashioned treat where the tension comes from the characters & drama rather than simple cheap effects, a refreshingly adult piece which refuses to succumb to the lowest common denominator & which should find a receptive audience.

I watched London Voodoo on a preview VHS, although it has now been picked up for distribution in the UK & US. A packed DVD release is set to include (subject to any last-minute change, of course) Director’s Commentary, 1hr making-of documentary, 20 min interview with White Voodoo Priest, Deleted Scenes & Trailer. Obviously I can’t provide a rating for these not having seen them, but it certainly sounds like an impressive package which would make London Voodoo stand out from the crowd.