"If this Kubrick-referencing haunted hotel flick starring Adam Scott was your introduction to director Damian McCarthy, do yourself a favor and go watch his previous film, Oddity. If you prefer to go in blind - the ideal way to watch any movie - Oddity is available to stream on Hoopla, Kanopy, Hulu, and Shudder."
"Like Hokum, Oddity takes place in a sprawling Irish countryside location. They both traffic in similar kinds of scares - cursed objects, the occult, isolation, dark corners, and sketchy men living outside the norms of society. They also both embrace magic and the supernatural, while making the true evil seemingly respectable men who victimize the women in their lives."
"Both were also made on extremely small budgets. Hokum cost just $5 million. Oddity's budget has proven harder to confirm, but I've seen reports as low as $750,000. The result is a movie that's gritty, extremely dark, and deploys its limited production budget smartly."
"A good chunk of the money was clearly spent on the wooden golem that is the centerpiece of the film. It is... upsetting. Where most haunted items, monsters, or ghosts in horror movies lose their impact the more you look at them, the golem in Oddity remains disturbing and terrifying, no matter how long it's on screen."
Oddity is a horror film set in a sprawling Irish countryside location, featuring cursed objects, occult themes, isolation, dark corners, and socially marginal men. The story embraces magic and supernatural forces while portraying respectable men as the source of real harm toward women. The film shares similar scare elements with Hokum, including unsettling isolation and sketchy figures outside social norms. Both films operate on extremely small budgets, with Hokum costing $5 million and Oddity reported as low as $750,000. The limited budget is used effectively, with a major portion spent on a wooden golem centerpiece that stays disturbing and terrifying even after repeated viewing.
Read at The Verge
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