‘Double Date’ Review – A Genuinely Funny Horror Movie

Horror and comedy are often two genres that are hard to merge together. When they do, they tend to be great movies like American Werewolf in London and Shaun of the Dead. Double Date is a new horror that manages to be funny, and most importantly brings with it a lot of heart.

Double Date

Jim (Danny Morgan) is reaching his thirtieth birthday and is still a virgin. Terrified around girls, he decides to prove his manhood before turning thirty. When two attractive girls Lulu (Georgia Groome) and Kitty (Kelly Wenham) agree to a night out with him, his cocky friend Alex (Michael Socha) decides to help him. The problem is, what is the secret Lulu and Kitty are hiding?

Double Date never hides the fact that Lulu and Kitty are killers, and making Jim the virgin is a reversal of fortunes of sort. If anything, he could be described as the “final boy”. The two girls do tend to steal the film somewhat, especially Kitty who is a total bad-ass. It is obvious that this is a horror that is trying to subvert what we expect from the run-of-the-mill horror.

Where the film finds its heart though is the relationship between Jim and Alex. Alex is the typical idiot who on the outside is a typical “lad” but who has a heart. Michael Socha gives the character a heart, and is very funny. Gets some of the best lines in the impressive script, and he just has that ability to be genuinely funny. Fans will have seen that ability in use before in Being Human and This is England.

Alex’s relationship with Jim is endearing, and in many ways, it is a total bromance. You care about the two characters and do hope they survive. In many ways the weakness in many modern horror films is the lack of empathy the audience have for the characters that are put in danger. It is refreshing to have some victims that we can actually empathise with. There is no point where we want either of the two to be killed.

What we see instead is a certain battle of wills between the femme-fatales and the “lads”. One of the most impressive scenes is the very violent confrontation between Kitty and Alex. The violence is surprisingly vicious, but what is even more interesting is that it feels like it was filmed in the style of a sex scene. It is a battle between a predator and its victim who puts up an impressive fight, and instead of it feeling uncomfortable, there is a dark level of humour at work.

Double Date is a horror film that has heart, and writer Danny Morgan (who also plays Jim) has written a horror film that actually feels refreshing. The style of the film also stands out too with the use of colour and lightening to actually take the film to the next level. It gives that feel to the film that makes it feel not just another generic “Hollywood” horror, but that director Benjamin Barfoot has provided us with a more stylish thought out experience.

For people looking for a good British horror, then this is a very good choice. It is funny, it never hides away from showing violence, and even holds a few surprises up its sleeve. More importantly Double Date is one of those films that feels like it is really giving a shot in the arm to the horror genre, and thankfully it delivers.

Double Date was released in UK cinemas October 13th.

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