Review: Hostile Dimensions
Shoulda Listened to the Talking Dog
This is not a new concept: A magical door opens onto somewhere else. We’re not talking about the next room, or the outside if you’re inside or the inside if you’re out. We’re talking SOMEWHERE ELSE. A completely different location on Earth, or on another planet, or in another dimension. It’s a wonderful, surreal visual metaphor: A physical, literal doorway that’s actually a gateway to unimaginable worlds – no wonder the artist Magritte latched onto it. So did the makers of the British film Hostile Dimensions. Happily, they don’t waste the concept.
The basic idea of Hostile Dimensions is simple enough: A pair of documentary filmmakers, Sam (Annabel Logan) and Ash (Joma West), having bombed with their previous film about a small, struggling Teddy bear manufacturer, get inspiration for their next project from a viral video about a graffiti artist, Emily (Josie Rogers), who vanishes into a mysterious doorway. They manage to find the door in short order, drag it back to Sam’s apartment (not sure how, but okay), and recruit a scientist (Paddy Kondracki) and eventually a retrieved Emily to puzzle out the mystery.
The film is presented in “found footage” style, a genre that has long worn out its welcome (some – not me, actually – would say that was five minutes after The Blair Witch Project debuted). But writer/director Graham Hughes doesn’t take the format too much to heart, taking copious liberties to keep the story flowing. One smart move: Having multiple devices recording events at the same time, giving the director the freedom to use traditional cutting without breaking the film’s “reality.”
Hughes finds a nice balance between twisty story – have a care, all is not as it first seems – and conjuring up fine, freaky stuff past the door. We’re in Sam Raimi territory here: weird; occasionally disturbing; frequently funny. Hughes is able to leverage practical locations – best may be an abandoned family restaurant – and digital effects for moments that range from beautiful to outright creepy (look out for that panda mascot!). Add to that a cast that play off each other well and are able to deliver a touching finale, and what you’ve got is a neat little comic adventure that knows the limits of its ambitions, and plays nimbly within them.
Hostile Dimensions made me smile, made me laugh, made me at times giggle at its occasional wickedness – it exhibits more life and creativity than many of the big-budget counterparts straining for spontaneous strangeness. It’s a fresh take on a classic trope.