Pet | Film review - Horror in the animal shelter basement

(Image credit: © Signature Entertainment)

A Love Story.

Cunningly nasty psychological horror thriller Pet does a good job of wrong-footing the viewer. When creepy loner Seth (Dominic Monaghan from The Lord of the Rings and Lost) begins stalking his old high-school crush, Holly (Lost Girl’s Ksenia Solo), we have a pretty good idea where the story is headed. By the time he’s started constructing a cage in the basement of the animal shelter where he works, we’re convinced we know what lies in store for her and for us. But just when we think we’re in for standard-issue torture porn, director Carles Torrens and writer Jeremy Slater make us think again what it means to be a predator and a victim.

Certificate 18. Runtime 92 mins. Director Carles Torrens

Pet debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Thursday 12 July. Available on DVD from Signature Entertainment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExtOBPtUdk

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.