Hounds of Love

Written by Ben Young
Directed by Ben Young
Starring: Emma Booth,

Ashleigh Cummings and Stephen Curry

I am not a parent, but I imagine that Hounds of Love is the epitome of a mother’s worst nightmare. (Dad’s too!) It’s 1987 in Perth, Australia and your rebellious teen daughter sneaks out of the house one night en route to a party – then vanishes. Panic and helplessness sets in as you discover no clues or leads as to the whereabouts of your child. Where is she???

Hounds of Love drags you into a nightmare where you will feel every agonizing inch of pain (both physical and emotional) of being kept captive, abused, raped, tortured, lost and in constant fear. Without graphic violence, Ben Young still plants the horrifying seed of uncertainty that pretty young Vicki encounters.

This is the world of Eve and John White…your typical thirty-something couple. Young, in love and happy. Oh…and they enjoy abducting, torturing and killing teenage girls. While out on the prowl one night they immediately target gussied-up Vicki. With promises of weed and alcohol, Vicki obliges sans major hesitation and accepts the offer to accompany the couple to their home for a quick pit stop.

And now for the terror to set in…

Shackled to a bed screaming, sexually depraved Eve and husband John begin to use her as their private play toy. But, there is something different about this go-around. Eve experiences pangs of jealousy when John takes opportunities to be alone with Vicki. Not forgoing her attempts to please her husband, Eve completes every dutiful daily task, worshipping John and taking care to bathe and feed their newest sex slave, Vicki. Eve’s internal demons begin to surface as she pleads with John to kill off the girl. Sensing the Achilles heel in their warped relationship, Vicki devises her plan to drive a wedge between the insane couple.

Not much gore, not much blood but plenty of fear and heartbreak. This is quite the disturbing tale of pure fright laid upon a defenseless girl and her struggle for survival. Vicki’s screams will resonate even after Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” rolls into the credits. Young has hit a home run with a horror flick that has little to no extreme violence that gore hounds are expecting. However, it is so psychologically upsetting that if you ARE a parent…you’ll want to hug your child endlessly.

Meredith

"Killing with gloves on? Well, that would be like fucking with a rubber."