The Quiet Ones (2014) User Reviews

Plenty of potential wasted in a dull possession movie

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 22 April 2016]

THE QUIET ONES is another disappointing effort put out by the new and revamped Hammer Films. It's a generic science-team-researches-ghost type effort, obviously modelled on old-fashioned epics like THE STONE TAPE, yet the material is so sub-standard and predictable that it becomes very difficult to sit through, let alone enjoy.

The entire blame for the failure can be laid on the script, which took at least four people to write; four diverse folk who between them wrote everything from URBAN Gothic and RAMPART to THE UNINVITED and QUARANTINE 2: TERMINAL . Everything else is adequate APART from the script: Sam Claflin is an acceptable lead actor, and Jared Harris is pleasingly old-fashioned in his approach to his role. I liked the idea of the 1970s setting and the film-within-a-film type material is always fun.

Unfortunately, the story boils down to all the old possession clichés, and even a few ridiculous CGI scenes here and there (thankfully they're kept extremely brief). Attempts to build mystery are negated by having an exceptionally dull explanation at the end, plus one of those stupid last-reel twists It's hardly a wonder that Hammer have gone very quiet recently, as none of their new films are remotely like their classics of old.

Brits have at the staples of 21st century American horror

[drownsoda90 · 6/10 · 25 April 2014]

"The Quiet Ones" focuses on a three students at the University of Oxford who join a research group led by Dr. Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris). The group is working to document parapsychological phenomenon in a young woman whom they believe has created and manifests a presence which she calls Evie. Isolated in the back country outside of Oxford, the group begins to unravel and secrets come to light.

I first off have to say that the primary reason I saw this film was because the poster was breathtaking— Gothic, beautiful, and unconventional. I wasn't even that impressed with the trailer, but the poster had some promise for me. Now, after seeing the film, I have mixed feelings.

It starts off well enough, and maintains a sense of ambiguity in its early stages, keeping the audience at arm's length; this is wonderful during the first act, but the problem is that it never seems to break free of this, even as the plot unravels and the truth comes out in the end— there is little surprise in the film because it never lets its audience in close enough to be affected by it. Clunky pacing and editing is largely the culprit here, which seems to prevent the film from ever really gaining steam. Instead, we are presented with a series of repetitious happenings that fail to build on one another, and the film edges on becoming an unmemorable blur as a consequence. The script feasts heavily on the staples of 21st century American horror films to its own detriment— we have possessed girls in white dresses, Satanic symbols, demons, religious cults, blah, blah, blah. You know the story.

That said, the film does have some strengths. The script is purportedly based on an actual experiment done in Toronto in the 1970s, so the film does have that working in its favor, no matter how ludicrous it is to take the events depicted at face value— the fact that there is at least a shred of truth to this is compelling in a world where every horror film released makes false claims of being based on reality. It is also remarkably well photographed; the interplay between the standard camera and the 8mm footage being filmed by the characters lends the picture a unique mood and sense of voyeurism, and the depictions of the experiments at times recall John Hough's British classic, "The Legend of Hell House." The performances in the film are also solid, with Jared Harris reeling everything in.

I think the overall problem I had with this film was, despite the fact that it roots itself in history as a period piece, the majority of it is just frankly underwhelming because it too often takes the route of 90% of the horror films we see released here in America every month. The premise is intriguing, but the execution leaves us with a relatively well-made film whose main problem is that is just isn't that darned compelling. 6/10.

ughhh VOLUME SPECTRUM

[minnieweathernatalie · 3/10 · 24 April 2020]

I cut it off at 25 min...constantly having to adjust the volume. Loud as hell, characters whispering, loud as hell, characters whispering...SO ANNOYING

Intriguing, enjoyable, supernatural horror that lacks sufficient bite to really scare.

[TheSquiss · 5/10 · 23 April 2014]

The Quiet Ones is the latest offering from resurrected horror studios Hammer Films. After the mixed fortunes of The Resident, Wake Wood, Let Me In and The Woman in Black, the studio that was once the spearhead of Great British horror lets rip with a chilling tale, purportedly based on truth, about a psychiatric patient's apparent supernatural abilities.

University professor Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris) and his research students, Krissi (Erin Richards) and Harry (Rory Fleck-Byrne), study Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke) through a slot in a locked door as, alone in her room, she appears able to summon the dead. While Jane torments herself and suffers at the hands of an apparent poltergeist, Coupland and his team endeavour to explain every occurrence with reason and logic. He recruits a young filmmaker, Brian (Sam Claflin), to document the experiment but Brian falls for Jane and her behavior becomes ever more extreme. But everything can be explained with science. Can't it?

We've been here before. The Quiet Ones is not an entirely original idea, but then neither was The Borderlands, and look how unnerving that was! It's a fine idea with great settings (Oxford University, an abandoned mansion) and good performances. The trouble is, for a horror it isn't terribly scary. I sat down for the screening expecting to grip the arms of my seat, scrunch up my toes and wonder again what the hell I was doing putting myself through this. Alas, the hair on the back of my neck remained largely prostrate. Maybe three horror films in a week deadens the impact.

There are plenty good 'jumps' but most are introduced with a rousing score or an obvious lull in activity. There are a few red herrings to build the tension and leave the viewer taut with expectation but at no point could I say I was scared or needed to look away from the screen to remind myself I was safe and in a cinema and not right there and about to be evil's next victim. Being on edge is good, but not good enough.

The special effects work well and there are one or two particularly enjoyable moments where DoP Mátyás Erdély has let rip with the lighting and camera work. Likewise, the props and set dressing set the scene beautifully but, were it not for the cast, John Pogue's film would be merely dull instead of at least managing to be enjoyable.

The last time I saw Jared Harris, he was swinging at the end of a rope in Mad Men and it's great to see him back on the big screen in a role that is less constricting than that of Lane Pryce. His Coupland is a combination of obsessive sleazebag and kindly mentor and the blend is perfect, never veering into the realms of pastiche. Likewise, Richards, most recently seen in Open Grave, draws us in with her determined temptress, the kind of girl you'd want to know but never cross.

It is Olivia Cooke, though, who makes The Quiet Ones worthwhile. It is difficult not to focus on her when she appears, even fleetingly, upon the screen. The other actors are her guests as she commands our attention. Always convincing as Jane the vulnerable waif, acolyte of evil and desperate victim, she manages to be sexy and enticing despite her sunken eyes and bruised skin; a black widow that Brian, unsurprisingly, struggles to resist. Let's hope Cooke isn't merely a saving grace in her next project: screenwriter Stiles White's directorial debut, Ouija.

The morning after, The Quiet Ones remains an intriguing story, true or not, that is well performed. But it lacks guts or real bite and, perhaps, could do with being a lot louder.

Or at least whispering in a very sinister way…

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Shallow and plodding

[Finalreminder · 2/10 · 1 June 2014]

The film is slow, plodding and lacks any depth. The scares don't scare. It lacks suspense or creepiness. Character development falls flat on it's face; you just don't become endeared to any of the characters, at all. Rory Fleck-Byrne and Erin Richards seem completely redundant in the film. Jared Harris performed well, but even he couldn't save this one. I think the whole possession thing has been done to death, and to pull it off nowadays takes strong characters, a solid story and a bit of a twist. Insidious for example. I personally wouldn't waste time and money on the film. Wait until it comes on TV in a couple of years. Definitely not a must watch movie.

Routine horror.

[The_moan_of_all_moans · 6/10 · 16 April 2014]

When one of these films come out, and i categorise it because they are quite simply all the same at the core, i find myself hoping for something new, something shocking, inventive, anything to completely separate it from any other demonic/paranormal film out there. From the trailer this didn't give much away, which was a pleasant surprise. The story was there, yes, but it didn't feel the need to show any of its frightening tricks; rightfully leaving them up the sleeve where they belong. And i was left slightly intrigued by its mystique.

It was a good film, i enjoyed it, in ways it had its own unique vibe, but it is not enough to distance itself from the rest. The typical "jump" moments, where silence is replaced with a sharp, loud noise. The story is re hashed. Cults and Entities. The one thing it tries to do different is instead of just admitting that there is something wrong, the professor is adamant that the going ons are because of the patients mind. Things are flying about and going on fire because the patients mind did it.....

Jared Harris (Professor Coupland) and Olivia Cooke (Jane Harper) are the two who standout the most. The rest are fodder; displaying very poor acting and their characters where very tacky. The film does have its moments (T-Rex soundtrack) and it does have an unusual mellowness surrounding it, but unfortunately, it is just another routine horror.

Almost impossible to watch

[lukas-stenger · 1/10 · 20 May 2020]

The implementation is so boring and shiftless that The Quiet Ones turned out as a horrible, instead of a horror movie. What's left of a promising story idea is nothing more than a 98 minutes collection of endless jump-scares which makes it almost impossible to watch.

The Boring Ones would have been a more appropriate title...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 5 August 2014]

"The Quiet Ones" turned out to be somewhat of a dull and boring movie experience. Which was a shame, because the movie did have potential to be so much more, especially given the setting of the movie.

The story is about a college professor and some of his student assistants performing an experiment on a young woman who is either haunted, possessed or suffering from an unknown ailment.

Story-wise then "The Quiet Ones" wasn't particularly impressive, because the aspects and possibilities that the movie had at hand weren't utilized. And instead, the movie just trotted ahead at a very dull and slow pace, without anything even remotely scary happening. Sure there were some nice enough moments here and there, but they were few and far between, and were hardly enough to salvage the movie in any possible way.

The best parts of "The Quiet Ones" were the acting of Jared Harris and Olivia Cooke.

If you are looking for a good thrill or scare, then "The Quiet Ones" is hardly the movie to spend time on, because it doesn't offer that at all.

The movie doesn't bring anything new to the genre and as such it was a much below average movie. I am rating "The Quiet Ones" a mere 3 out of 10 stars, because I wasn't impressed in one bit.

genuinely surprised by the negative reviews

[memoryplague · 8/10 · 22 May 2014]

Aside from The Exorcist, possession films always seem so lacking. They never have enough real, human tension. They focus on predictable jump scares and an even more predictable plot. It's safe to say that, in general, possession films don't have much to offer. Thankfully, The Quiet Ones does not suffer from the same faults of many other similar films.

Rather than simply focus on the dark progression of a possessed being, The Quiet Ones presents the frustrating fears that torment the young, inexperienced scientists, as they struggle with their desire to help a suffering being through the means of science and logic, the underlying threat of possible demonic possession,and the obsessive nature of Professor Coupland.

The performance of the cast is top notch, the effects are subtle, the only disappointing aspect was the very, very end, and the fact that as a whole, the film just wasn't that scary. Still, if the concept of possession interests you, but you've been disappointed with past projects, you might want to give this a shot.

Lame, Unoriginal and Boring

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 26 September 2014]

In 1974, in Oxford, Professor Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris) invites his introspective student Brian McNeil (Sam Claflin) to film his research about the supernatural with his two assistants, Krissi Dalton (Erin Richards) and Harry Abrams (Rory Fleck-Byrne), and the subject Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke).

Jane is a young woman with no memory from the past that has been abandoned that believes she is possessed by a doll named Evey that gives telekinetic power to her. She is kept awake in an isolated house with a doll, where Prof. Coupland intends that she puts her evil energy in and then destroy the doll to healing Jane. Strange things happen in the house and Brian feels sorry for Jane and he researches her tattoo, learning an evil secret about the past of Jane.

"The Quiet Ones" is a lame, unoriginal and boring movie by the new Hammer. The predictable story is not totally bad, but the screenplay is tedious and the camera work is awful. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Marca do Medo" ("The Mark of the Fear")

Horror movie defined by loud noises to scare you.

[frankblack-79961 · 4/10 · 22 June 2020]

This isnt a bad movie. It just really irritates me when they purposely make the dialog barely audible so that you turn your tv up so you can follow the story. Then have all manner of loud noises to get cheap jump scares out of the audience. To me thats the biggest signal of a weak ass plot line or some other difficency the director or writers are trying to make up for. This movie is full of cheap jump scares with some real creepiness every so often.

Hotpants Horror

[action-man101 · 3/10 · 15 April 2014]

Painfully dull horror set in the 70s that should've been called The Boring Ones. Yet another girl-in-a-white-nightdress-is-possessed snorefest. Far too talky and takes ages to get going. By the time something does happen it's too little too late and predictable. May scare some children and easily frightened wimpy adults but nobody else. Some unintentional laughs via the hilarious number of different 70s clothes the blonde hottie wears. Her skimpy hotpants are probably the best thing in this film and stopped me from leaving the cinema early. A disappointment from the newly relaunched Hammer Films and not a patch on the far scarier The Woman in Black.

Tense but does not go far enough

[cinematic_aficionado · 6/10 · 25 April 2014]

A psychiatrist takes a team of people to a retreat with a mental health patient in order to help her. Part of the process is the conducting of a series of experiments which go terribly awry.

An initial struggle for me was how can a doctor be allowed to take a vulnerable patient away and use as a guinea pig; the ease with which it occurred, caused certain moral thrash. As the story moves on, certain inexplicable incidents occur with seem to trouble the entire team.

Of course these "incidents" have had to take place since this is after all a horror film. The events cause a certain split as the doctor in charge believes there is a naturalistic explanation behind it whilst some of the team hold the view that there is a transcendent reality beyond what we see, feel and understand.

On the whole, it is an effective horror film as the story progresses with good pace, upping the intensity with the passing of time. It is held back by a rather sense of predictability due to a highly worked story/theme (night/dark/silence interrupted by a sudden noisy intervention) and a not very believable initiating incident (the taking of a patient away for experimentation).

Fresh, interesting British Horror

[cc_vivalavida · 8/10 · 4 April 2014]

The Quiet Ones is a new British horror movie from the makers of The Woman in Black. Produced by the classic crafters of horror, Hammer Productions, the film follows an Oxford professor (Jared Harris), his tutees and a student cameraman (Sam Claflin) as they attempt to both prove and document the theory that supernatural powers are simply a manifestation of psychological trauma. They begin studying a young girl who believes she is possessed by an evil entity, and a strange relationship begins to develop between her and cameraman Brian as the professor's attempts to create a poltergeist take their toll.

In an era where endless Paranormal Activity sequels, squeezing every buck out of the found-footage genre and reliance purely on cattle-prod jump scares, it's refreshing to see a horror film that seems to have been made by people who understand how suspense works. In the same way that Woman in Black tricked you into thinking that it's going to be a run-of-the-mill horror flick set in a creaky old house but did something interesting, The Quiet Ones uses the 'house in the middle of nowhere' setting in a way that doesn't just turn the lights off and throw furniture around when things go wrong.

While rare (but noticeable), there are still uses of very loud noises out of absolutely nowhere to accentuate the scares, but asides from that, they are achieved through realistic and unobtrusive special effects, a sparing but effective use of a rumbling, mechanical musical score (there is something to be said for music that can make a scene of occult research feel intense) and an unflinching refusal by the camera to shy away from the horror. The camera-work is an interesting mix of live-action and old celluloid stock filmed from the perspective of the cameraman as he observes the increasing number of bizarre and terrifying events unfolding before the investigators.

As far as performances go, Jared Harris is well cast as the physics professor slowly declining into madness in a knowing manner very reminiscent of classic Hammer-horror and Sam Claflin builds a lot on his brief performance in Catching Fire, creating a very believable character struggling with his own beliefs as the absolute horror of the experiment becomes increasingly harder to deal with. Olivia Cooke is also very good as Jane, the tortured subject of the experiment, taking a very over-used character (the silent, unblinking possessed girl) and doing something interesting with it, alternating between an almost comatose recluse and a young woman dealing with adolescence and emerging emotions.

The running time of just less than 100 minutes means that some of the character development feels a little rushed, but it means that the film has adequate time to set up scares, deliver on the suspense, and create an intriguing story without feeling repetitive. Taking unexpected turns, featuring good performances and inciting real fear in the audience, The Quiet Ones is a very welcome breath of fresh air in mainstream horror movies, proving once again that constant scenes of exorcisms and annoying families with camcorders have become tired old tropes and that the best thing to do is wipe that all away and focus on believable characters and more interesting methods to create a genuinely tense atmosphere.

Far from great, yet not the worst.

[nitzanhavoc · 6/10 · 18 January 2015]

Like many other devout Horror fans out there (yet unlike just as many) I personally hate seeing the annoying words "based on a true story", "inspired by true events" and the likes in the beginning of Horror films. To me, it means that as long as 0.01% of the film's plot is based on something that is (or used to be) real - the creators can use this cheap trick and make the less intelligent viewer just a little bit (or even more) extra afraid. Don't get me wrong, I happen to be a fan of cheap tricks, jump scares and the likes make for a much better viewing experience for me. I still recognize these tricks for what they are: cheap.

Seeing as how The Quiet Ones boasts having factual origins, I did a little digging (honestly just a little, the second Google result proved to be sufficiently informative) and found out that on one hand this film's plot is actually based on quite a bit of true occurrences (at least more than other films claim to be). On the other hand, these "true" occurrences themselves (better known as The Philip Experiments) turned out to be no more than a hoax.

Having said that, let us focus on The Quiet Ones as a Horror film, and say that in my opinion it is quite alright. Characters and acting are pretty good (with the exception of Olivia Cooke and Jarred Harris who were excellent), and the story is quite interesting and kept me personally curious and guessing until the very end. The twist towards the ending and the ending itself were great, and I myself can't think of a better way the film could have ended.

I've mentioned cheap tricks, and The Quiet Ones definitely uses quite a few jump-scares (which as I've said I quite enjoy). What I don't enjoy are "mockumentaries" and scenes that are presented through the eye of a camera. It's a matter of personal taste and the only film using this method which I liked was the one who made it famous - The Blair Witch Project. One reason I do respect this film is that it doesn't show the "evil spirit' for more than a split second, knowing that lack of creativity, or budget, or both prevented the creators from making a "supernatural evil" worthy of camera time.

All in all, I enjoyed watching this film. I didn't find it to be innovative or original, but it wasn't at all bad. I could think of 10 Horror films off the top of my head to recommend before I'd recommend this one, but I wouldn't say it isn't worthy of watching.

Hammer In Name Only

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 23 July 2014]

A professor and students head to an isolated house in the countryside where they study a young woman with potential supernatural abilities. Familiar story lacking in any appreciable kind of atmosphere or suspense. From a technical standpoint, it's a perfectly well-made movie of its type. Nothing to write home about but nothing to mock either. The problem is that it's all so terribly boring and predictable. If you've seen possession movies or ghost movies before, and I wager you have, then you will feel like you've seen this movie done before and better. If you do decide to watch it, be prepared that it's slow and dull. It will require commitment on your part to get through it and I doubt you'll find the payoff worth it. The revived Hammer Films continues to disappoint me. I don't expect them to try and replicate the great Hammer of old. But it would be nice if they at least tried to make movies that are fun to watch instead of tired, drab films like this.

Generic and overdrawn British horror

[KineticSeoul · 3/10 · 20 August 2014]

This is a generic and overdrawn British horror that gets tiresome and boring real quickly. There is nothing about the build up that makes it different from other possession movies. And it just lacks tension or suspense and just flat-out fails in that department. If you are an audience member that has already seen quite a bit of horror movies, especially the ones dealing with possession, there really isn't anything new with this one. I did like that it didn't have a much of nightmare dreams or hallucination moments that much but that is replaced by it's dependency on super cheap jump scares. Where things are quite and all of a sudden there is a loud split second noise. The character actions and decisions doesn't make any sense as well. Usually in these types of horror movies, it give subtle hints on what is going on but this one quickly delves in the obvious straightforward demonic/ghost stuff. And yet the characters act oblivious to what is going on and make decisions that just doesn't make much sense. Overall this is a boring movie to sit through and if your an audience member that has seen some possession horror movies before, you are not going to get anything new at all from this one. Even the ending is super cliché and predictable. The cinematography is actually really good though.

3.3/10

Dreadfully boring

[swad2776 · 1/10 · 29 December 2019]

The good Nicely recreated 70's vibe. Clothes, cars etc.

The bad Pretty much everything else. Character development virtually nil. Nothing happens for over an hour, then suddenly one of the characters goes off to a library and finds out the truth, tells the rest of the cast in a 3 minute scene and then there are some loud sound effects and a few cheesy alpha keyed flames and it's all over. It was a nice idea that desperately needed someone who understands plotting to reel the audience in and drip feed the plot strands so the viewer goes on the journey of discovery with the cast.

Verdict Don't bother

Good and creepy. However; easily forgettable, incomplete and has a disappointing ending.

[lledain-796-978822 · 8/10 · 21 June 2014]

So, The Quiet Ones. I gave this film an 8 out of 10. I would however give it a rating of 7.8 if I could.

The Positives: The Quiet Ones is very successful in building up tension. It builds it up and then a jump scene comes at you and throws you out of your seat!

It is also a great concept. As the story progresses you begin to see more to the story than what we first thought.

Also TQO manages to go into different stories based on real legends (e.g. The theories they come up with and the covens they slightly touch upon.)

It is also quite creepy and intense with many scenes that make you say to yourself: WTF?!

The Negatives: TQO does not go deep enough into the story. They could have made the run time longer resulting in the movie being a lot more frightening. At the end of the movie, clearly not destined for a sequel we are left with many un-answered questions.

It is easily forgettable! After watching the film I simply left the screening. I did not take a minute to think about what I watched, literally the second I left the cinema I forgot about it.

The ending is also very disappointing. After all the build up I bet you were expecting a dramatic, jaw dropping climax?.... Well this movie does not offer that. Up until the end all the other negatives could have easily been forgiven. All it would have needed was a better ending.

And finally I'm going to tell you the problem with this film that occurs all of the time. 'Based on a true story'. If you are a director reading this STOP ADDING THOSE 5 WORDS! It makes the film feel scarier obviously but it also makes the director have to keep it realistic and that is usually a big downfall!

So 7.8 is what I give this film. It is creepy, jumpy and an interesting mix of found footage genre cinematography and regular cinematography. However; TQO simply isn't very believable and it is not good enough to get out of the 7 rating.

Hammer production with full of eerie scenes , restless horror and a twisted intrigue

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 24 July 2021]

Horror story filled with suspense , restless terror , thrills and lots of gore and blood . This terror movie deals with a young teen named Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke) , she is a really troubled girl , she has malevolent energy , being possessed with telekinetic talents and attacking unintentionally . Psychic powers who causes dreadful happenings .A real chiller in which an involuntary power engenders in her nasty events . His vital and dark energy seem to carry out terrible accidents , which are impossible to stop. A university professor , Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris) , forms a top team of ambitious students (Sam Claflin , Erin Richards , Rory Fleck Byrne) and join them at a secluded estate on the outskirts of London . He undergoes hypnosis to control her nasty thoughts in blackness , but his apparent supernatural powers continue and not being able to avoid her hallucinations , she becomes even more violent and sadistic . Nevertheless , is a terror so mercilessly baleful and horrible that it may destroy them all before they even realize what a hateful mistake they've made . Along the way Brian (Sam Claflin) attempts to find out the bizarre events leading at the old mansion in bloody results .Something unspeakable is happening to Jane Harper.

This frightening movie concerning a strange professor joining a group of students to conduct an experiment on a young woman, uncovering terrifyingly dark, unexpected forces in the process. Mysterious flick deliberately told , contains thrills , chills , tension , shocks , suspense and lots of violence and some gory special effects . As director/writer John Poison takes here and there from ¨Palma's Carrie¨ , ¨Palma's The Fury¨ , and the possession's theme about person possessed by old time spectres or ghouls from ¨Michael Winner's The Nightcomers¨ , ¨Don Sharp's Dark places¨ or the recent ¨James Wan's The Conjuring¨series . It displays a sinister and horrifying atmosphere by means of shaky camera with photographer Mátyás Erdély providing a nice cinematography along with appropriate setting of the Seventies . Adequate acting from Jared Harris as a weird professor who has a particularly unconventional plan for getting the darkness out of her and Olivia Cooke as the teenager with psychic powers . As well as Sam Claflin, Rory Fleck Byrne and the beautiful Erin Richards .

It is an acceptable and very rare movie , a decent terror story with plenty of suspense , screams , shocks and tension . It has a dark cinematography and exciting , suspenseful musical score by Lucas Vidal . The picture was professionally directed by John Poison with horror moments are compactly made and fast-moving and bringing this eerie and stylish story plagued with twisted intrigue , mediums , telekinetic powers and depraved gore murders . John Pogue has written/produced/directed various successful films , such as : ¨Quiet ones¨ , ¨Ghost ship¨ , ¨Us Marshals¨ , ¨The Fast and the Furious¨ and ¨Skulls 2¨ . Rating : 6/10 , attractive Hammer Film that will appeal to horror fans.

Lame excuse for a para-horror

[ArchonCinemaReviews · 3/10 · 17 September 2014]

he Quiet Ones is a jumbled nonsensical mess of a horror film with little direction and even littler scares.

The Quiet Ones is about a trio of Oxford students experimentation on a disturbed girl while led by a controversial professor. Alas, having watched The Quiet Ones I still don't quiet understand from where the title originates.

Brian McNeill, played by Sam Claflin, is an audiovisual student who joins a duet of students, Krissi played by Erin Richards and Harry played by Rory Fleck-Byrne, to film psychological experiments. Jane Harper, played by Olivia Cooke, is a disturbed young adult believed to have schizophrenia. Unorthodox Professor Joseph Coupland, played by the appropriately cast Jared Harris, believes and hopes to prove that mental illness is the explanatory negative energy for all telekinetic and paranormal occurrences. He proposes that supernatural events are just an extension of what already exists in his mind and that experiments forcing Jane to magnify the effect will prove his hypothesis.

The premise of The Quiet Ones is far from original. The difference is in the intention: to be a Gothic Hammer film. No amount of nostalgia for the genre can save the film from the muddy plot and screenplay. As the film forges forward the happenings and plot remain stagnant until the last ten minutes of the film. The audience must endure an hour of repetitive experiments that are suppose to shock, scare and build tension regarding the existence of the paranormal. The Quiet Ones is drawn out, an unconnected series of tests with no cohesive path and certainly not related or contingent upon previous results. These events, are sporadic and do not create plot progression and therefore do not build suspense and impending peril for the characters. It all feels like monotonous filler until the sloppy plot twist addition called an 'ending'.

Further lacking in the screenplay and film is fully thought out character interrelationships. For the first half of the film we follow the film through docu-themed direction and see flashes of information about the characters' exchanges with one another. Though director John Pogue may think this added to the film, none of this background is ever evident in any succeeding scenes. It only highlights the lack of clarity in this supernatural horror.

The Quiet Ones is a movie labeled a 'horror' film but it did not scare, it just made me bide my time for the hope that the ending was mildly redeemable. It wasn't.

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Utterly dreadful.

[rocknrelics · 1/10 · 23 February 2019]

I have no problem with slow moving films, but I do have a problem with boring ones, and believe me, this is truly boring. To keep you awake there are numerous bangs, all at a high volume, you rush to turn the sound down, then can't hear the dialogue. The story had promise, but it certainly wasn't realised in this mess. A disgrace to the Hammer name. One to go on Ebay.

Not what it's cracked up to be

[Mcgolj · 5/10 · 24 May 2014]

I like my horror movies, to be more precise i like my supernatural horror movies. This unfortunately wasn't one of them. I had such high hopes for this movie, Good cast, trailer looked good, what could go wrong. Well, everything was there, except for a scare. I realised about a third into the movie i had a feeling, didn't know what it was, then it dawned on me, nothing had happened!, absolutely nothing. I continued to watch, with hopes of something happening and that is where the movie gets you, It lulls you into thinking the big reveal is just about to happen, and yet another small reveal happens along with a new bit of info to the mix. But sadly is like a cheap dinner, Smells and looks good, but leaves you wanting. Acting, i have to say, was meh!, the blonde! please! stereotype was almost tattooed on her forehead, along with the nutty professor and religiously shy hero.

Sorry folks, this is not what it is tarted up to be!, it's a meh! rainy waste of a Sunday afternoon.

Disappointing, disjointed, disinterested.

One of the better movies of its genre

[TdSmth5 · 6/10 · 2 January 2015]

In 1974, an English college professor recruits a cameraman to film his session treating a girl with some mental issue. We learn that the professor, Harris, has done this before with some kid, but he "didn't have enough time" and the kid killed himself. He's also very scientific and rejects the paranormal and religion. Part of his team are a guy who handles the equipment, electromagnetic field readers and the like, and a girl to support the patient and to offer medical assistance when needed. He also works under the assumption that if he can heal the patient, he'll heal all of mankind. So he's very eager to take this to its ultimate consequences.

Brian, the cameraguy meets the patient, Jane. They keep her looked up in a room. They warn him not to look at her or talk to her. He does of course and she somehow knows his name and talks in a creepy voice. Occasionally she manages to make things happen outside the room.

The therapy is rather brutal, it consists of sleep deprivation, and in general make her situation miserable. Supposedly so that she'll participate in her therapy. Her problem is that she's created some alter ego named Eavy. In the sessions Harris demands that Jane make Eavy appear so that she'll manifest herself, or talk to them.

And sure enough things start happening. Jane ends up with a strange burn mark, a doll catches flames, etc. Eventually the team has to move to the country side for more privacy. There Brian discovers some surprises about the dr. and his team. Overall, Brain seems to fall for Jane. He does recognize that she's basically being tortured but Jane sometimes states she wants to help the dr. at other times she begs him to help her get out.

When things get too much for Brian he leaves to do research. He finds out what the strange burn mark is all about. And he discovers what Eavy is all about. He returns to the house with this information. He theorizes Jane is possessed which the dr. of course rejects. In the last 30 minutes or so things unravel with a couple of surprises.

The Quiet Ones is a decent possession/seance movie. I can't say I've seen all of the "possession of so-and-so" / "haunting in somewhere" movies, but a lot of them are rather weak. This one did work for me. Yes, it's slower as it takes place in the 70s, before "fast" became a way to be. So the movie isn't made with jarring editing, wild CGI effects. On the contrary. A lot we see from the perspective of Brian's giant shoulder-held camera. So fortunately the image is good and it's not dizzying.

The movie keeps things intriguing since it's not clear which way things are going to go. Is Jane crazy? Is she smart and manipulative? Is she possessed? Is she just troubled and abused? My main reason for seeing this movie was the lovely Olivia Cooke who plays Jane. Granted, in this movie she doesn't get to look her best. Still, this movie is no worse than others of its kind, rather I found it more enjoyable and less gimmicky.

Good movie

[atinder · 6/10 · 17 June 2014]

The Quiet Ones (2014

) I did not expect much from this movie, as we see this story countless of times before and I didn't think it brought anything new.

And I was right about one thing, This movie dose not bring anything new however I thought was really well made. it's NOT one of those horror movies , that filled with a lot of fake scares scenes, there are barely any scarce scenes at all.

This is really quite and n very slow in some parts, some will find this dull and boring, I did find some parts a bit boring , I did yawn once or twice

There are some decent spooky scenes, I didn't find them creepy, I just found those scenes very entertaining to watch.

The acting was really good from short cast it had. 6 out of 10 Good movie