Irish Filmmaker Damian McCarthy is one to watch. His latest and most high-profile film yet, “Hokum,” is a folklore murder mystery. It stars Adam Scott (“Severance,” “Big Little Lies”) as an unlikable author scarred by traumatic events in his childhood. The real headliner in “Hokum” is the vintage hotel where the majority of the film takes place. Referencing classic horror films like “The Shining” or “The Others”, McCarthy understands the value of a creepy setting. He also finds a way to make elevators creatively central to the plot. While Scott might be playing a similar facet to characters on his resume, the colorful Irish supporting cast provides more originality. Not without weakness, “Hokum” gives into jump scares too often, and McCarthy’s supernatural elements distract from all the stuff he gets right.
American novelist John Bauman (Scott) has arrived in the small town of West Cork, Ireland, where he intends to scatter his parents’ ashes. The old Bilberry Woods Hotel is the only lodging option in this part of the woods. From the moment he parks, Bauman is opinionated, confrontational, and unpleasant to everyone he encounters. It’s Halloween season with creepy cherubs adorning the mantle pieces as the inn winds down its operating season. At the bar, Bauman has a chance to insult the remaining hotel staff,
Outside of the needless jump scares and in between the basement-of-horrors, “Hokum” works best as a whodunnit.
but not before he’s given haunted history about the hotel and the off-limits honeymoon suite. Bauman’s intoxicated and depressive state leads him to an action that sets a course worse than any nightmare he’s experienced.
Younger audiences won’t mind heavy “Shining” references, and cinephiles will either admire McCarthy’s homage, if they enjoy the film, or resent them if they don’t. Outside of the needless jump scares and in between the basement-of-horrors, “Hokum” works best as a whodunnit. The dark and damp atmospheric design McCarthy creates both in his writing and direction is essential to the film’s most chilling moments. The design of the elevators, retro call bells for the rooms in the lobby, and even the staff’s wardrobe play important roles in the film’s third act. Composer Joseph Bishara (“The Conjuring,” “Insidious”) delivers another horror movie score that’s memorable and unsettling. He uses what sounds like young children murmuring “OOOoooooo” to create quite a chilling effect.
“Hokum” is a labyrinth of characters, narratives, and intertwined stories. Less is often more in the horror genre, and would have served McCarthy better in the end. When the unlikeable Bauman is being scared out of his mind while claustrophobically forced to face the regrets of the past, the psychological terror exemplifies a promising filmmaker. The shifts to demonic witches, hauntings and doors to hell erode at that promise. Thankfully McCarthy practices more restraint as a director despite the excess of his own writing.
Final Thought
“Hokum” is almost a great murder mystery horror film with a stellar atmospheric hotel setting and psychological terror, only to be fractured by unnecessary jump scares and supernatural elements.