By Travis Johnson
We’ve been waiting a long time to see Hounds of Love, the debut feature from West Australian filmmaker Ben Young. Indeed, we’ll be waiting a lot longer – it’s slated for wide release in Australia from June 1. The US, however, will be getting it from May 12, following its North American premiere at SXSW on March 11. But, you know, keep bitching about John Wick 2.
Ahem. Anyhoo, US promo and advertising has begun in earnest, and that means a brand spankin’ new trailer that divulges a little more plot and a little more tone than what we’ve seen before.
It’s quite a piece of work – your skin feels grimy after watching it. Emma Booth and Stephen Curry are almost unrecognisable as the murderous couple who lure schoolgirl Ashleigh Cummings into their wood-paneled hell – while Booth’s transformation is the more obvious, check out Curry’s use of body language. The paranoia and sense of imminent violence is palpable – this one is probably gonna be a tough watch, judging from both this and the advance word from its festival run.
Young is already prepping for his next film,the SF actioner Extinction, so clearly the powers that be have seen something special here. We’ve got a few months before we can confirm that, but the signs are good.