Oddity by Damian McCarthy is an Irish horror film about a blind medium who wants to uncover the truth about the murder of her sister. If you haven’t heard of this movie, oh ho ho, you are missing out!
Oddity starts off with a perfectly unnerving introduction.
Dani (Carolyn Bracken who plays both Dani and Darcy) is staying at a home under renovation by her and her husband. Dani also happens to be a photographer and while camping out in her new home she takes photos of the property and reviews them with her camera. I think Dani is supposed to be a ghost hunter or paranormal investigator, but the movie doesn’t state any specifics.
She hears a knock on the door in the middle of the night. When she slides the vision panel open, there’s a man standing on the other side warning her that someone is in the house. Yet, when Dani asks questions on who the man is and why he’s standing outside her house in the middle of nowhere, it is revealed he was a former patient at the local psychiatric facility.
Dani must decide whether the crazy man is lying or telling the truth.
We cut away from Dani and fast forward a few years. We are introduced to Darcy (same actress) who is Dani’s twin sister. Darcy owns an oddities shop. An oddity is basically a weird or strange little item that may or may not be cursed. Usually, an item becomes cursed when the owner of an item commits a heinous act. You know, murder.
Dani’s widowed husband Dr. Ted Timmis (Gwilym Lee) visits Darcy and offers for her to come stay at the house for the anniversary of Dani’s death. It was a passing comment of, “Oh, you should come by sometime for a chat.”
He was not expecting her to show up a week later.
Oddity is not a movie about jump scares or gore, but it does have a little of both.
What I enjoyed the most about Oddity was how the film focuses on ambience and tension rather than violence. For example, I didn’t particularly enjoy Evil Dead Rise because it was constant, non-stop gore and killing. There was always something dripping from people’s mouths, objects to maim people, and tons and tons of blood with very little focus on mood or ambience.
Oddity does the opposite by ensuring you only see glimpses of evil during very specific moments. There are jump scares, but they are placed in strategic positions. Some are predictable and others you won’t see coming.
The most violent and grotesque scene involves a character getting their head smashed. You don’t see it and what you do see is only for a few frames before cutting away. I personally felt this was more effective for me as my brain didn’t have enough time to pore over the details. What you see is shocking and gross and then it’s over.
But this is not a traditionally “scary” movie.
There isn’t a sequence where you’re expecting another scare to come along or another teenager to die. Barely anyone dies at all. Oddity is all about making you say aloud, “Why the hell would you live in a house like that? No, don’t open the door. Why would you leave them all alone? What are you thinking digging into those holes?”
They’re not necessarily “stupid” decisions because no one dies from the choices. In a way, Oddity feels interactive with its audience. It is keenly aware of what we’re thinking and does everything it can to subvert our expectations.
The plot isn’t anything new, the reasons justifying the murder are dumb, and not a lot happens. Yet, despite all these glaring shortcomings, Oddity was an extremely fun watch and was one of the better horror movies I’ve seen this year.
I would give Oddity a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
