Starring - Ian McCready (A Knife in the Dark) and Kate Schmidt (The Lizzie Borden Game, Strange Things Happen at the Weird House 2)
Release Date - 2025
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Something supernatural wont let Heather rest... what are her dark secrets... and will she survive the night?"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Indie filmmaking brings about it's own unique problems that many people would never know unless they made their own films. I respect anyone that has made a no budget flick but it's even more impressive when you've turned it into a career. I know a few filmmakers that has been able to make this their livelihood but very few have been able to do it as long as director Joe Sherlock has. Next year will make 30 years since his first feature length film and he is still going strong. A few weeks back Joe sent over a link to check out his newest film The Haunting of Heather Black. This supernatural flick was inspired by made for television films from the 70s and starred the lovely Kate Schmidt. I want to take a moment to thank Joe for sending this one over!
The film follows Heather (Schmidt) who needs a change of scenery and moves into an old family home away from her family and friends. However, things are strange at this home. As she navigates through several relationships, we see her mental health start to deteriorate until they all end in bloodshed. Is there something in the home forcing her to kill or is she insane?
The Haunting of Heather Black is one that I was not expecting from Sherlock and his Skullfaced Astronaut label. He is constantly working on something but I had no idea what his new film was about. However, I didn't expect a film paying homage to made for television movies to be one of them. With that being said, I absolutely loved it. It wasn't a paint by numbers supernatural horror flick. Instead, it was a movie that redirected the viewer perfectly and hit them with something they didn't see coming. The acting in this one is a bit uneven but it's not the worst that I've seen. The supporting cast has a few scenes where the dialogue is a bit forced and awkward but deliver a solid job for the most part. The star of the show, Kate Schmidt, is phenomenal. She does a fantastic job and shows a wide range of emotion. Her performance here made her a name I look for in future genre projects. The story for this one is not what I was expecting. It's not a predictable film and the first 30 or 40 minutes has you scratching your head as you wonder what the point any of this has to do with the film but then the last leg of the film happens and you realize exactly what is going on. It's a movie you have to watch patiently and missing one scene will throw you off but the pay off is worth it if you stick with it. The last quarter of the film is worth the wait and really pulls the entire film together. While it does have a slow build up, it's works. Finally, the film has some blood with minimal effects. It's not the goriest film which is to be expected considering the films it's paying tribute to didn't have Overall, The Haunting of Heather Black is a well put together supernatural thriller that pays homage to made for television films from the 70s. It introduces me to my favorite new actress and has a story that was not predictable at all. I highly recommend checking it out.
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