WRITTEN and directed by Ted Geoghegan, Brooklyn 45 comes across as equal parts Poirot-style drawing-room mystery and ghostly horror, in the vein of The Old Dark House, with a sprinkling of Evil Dead carnage for good measure.
This beautifully lit chamber piece brings five military veterans together on Friday December 27, 1945, in the ornate parlour of a Brooklyn brownstone. Emotionally damaged and physically scarred from the horrors of World War Two, the five friends are each haunted in their own ways and all fighting a great internal battle.
Peacetime is a definite struggle for them, and the notion of life without conflict seems a bridge too far.
Best friends since childhood, they’ve reunited to support their troubled host Lt Col Clive Huckstatter (Larry Fessenden) – but when his invitation for cocktails turns into an impromptu séance, the metaphoric ghosts of their past become all too literal.
Trapped in their host’s lounge, the ‘greatest generation’ now finds themselves put to one final test, and the only route to freedom is more bloodshed.
Geoghegan goes for a classic Hollywood feel, which comes off at times as overly sedate, and the director struggles to build up any real sense of tension or to create a claustrophobic atmosphere to draw the viewer in.
Anne Ramsay is the star of the show as famed Nazi interrogator Maria Sheridan and keeps the film from falling flat on its face on numerous occasions.
Brooklyn 45’s biggest flaw is trying to be all things to all people. It might have made for a good-old fashioned murder mystery or ghostly caper, but the combination of both, together with all too stiff-necked performances, poorly pixlelated spectres, and the element of gory horror, takes the good out of it on every level.
New to Shudder, Geoghegan’s latest proves to be a disappointing hodgepodge that adds way too many ingredients to its ‘old skool’ broth.
(3/5)
