The world premiere of By the Throat took place on 7 March at Glasgow Film Festival.
By the Throat follows a strong-willed Lizzy, played by Sex Education’s Patricia Allison, as she housesits for wealthy couple Amy (Jeany Spark) and Alex (Rupert Young). The majority of David Luke Rees’ sophomore feature plays out as a horror-thriller surrounding the grief-stricken Amy; however, in the final twenty minutes, it bursts into a full horror-comedy.
The audience is introduced to Lizzy through her night terrors, drawing on themes of mental health while illuding to her resilience and competence. This is a trope horror fans will be extremely familiar with, but commanding performances by Allison and Spark alongside a sharp shift into comedy allow for a refreshing trip down a well-worn path.
Described by the director as a film “made by genre lovers, for genre lovers”, there are buckets of good intentions. However, despite being played out as a classic slow burn, regular light jump scares in the second act released the tension and undermined the hard work. It also suffered from inconsistencies within its storytelling, leaving loose ends. The introduction of the child’s bedroom as the classic ‘do not enter’ trope was immediately dispelled as Lizzy immediately went in without any consequences. While this is clearly a critique of the cliché, it was done too early to contribute towards the tension and read more like a loose end.
The recovery of Amy and the portrayal of the couple as victims of the cult also left unanswered questions, as the film lacked clarity surrounding why they were double-crossed or if indeed there was a supernatural element. Where third acts typically start to draw together these threads, By the Throat only multiplied them.
While the ‘twist villain’ Dr Lewis, played by Matthew Cottle, was an easily foreseeable antagonist, he was fun and pulled a great deal of laughs out from the audience. This characterised the final act, where the suspension was answered with a violent and comedic conclusion. Lizzy pushed through her trauma to save herself and her mother from the fanatical cultists and became a strong-willed and capable protagonist.
By the Throat had its issues that undermined its horror elements, but the comedic slant and lack of frights do make this a great introduction for those interested in the genre, and will likely gain its own cult following in the coming years.