DVD Review: The Daisy Chain (2008)
The Daisy Chain (2008)
Studio: Image Ent.
Release Date: April 13, 2010
Directed By: Aisling Walsh
Cast: Samantha Morton, Steven Mackintosh, Mhairi Anderson, David Bradley & Flora Montgomery.
Review By: Annie Riordan
Dear DVD Distribtution Companies: Please stop putting totally misleading artwork on your box covers. Kthxbye.
There are two (that I know of) covers available for the 2008 Irish horror movie The Daisy Chain. The one I have a problem with is the seemingly more popular version, which features a half rotted zombie chick in a lacy little cammie, sporting a flimsy pair of dragonfly wings and a pair of fried egg white eyeballs standing in front of a suitably creepy cemetery. There are no zombies in this film, half rotted or otherwise. There are no cemeteries or lacy cammies, either. And though there are wings, not one single dragonfly alights on one single blade of grass. An alternate cover features the face of a young girl exposed in negative red. Of the two, the latter is far more accurate, but apparently nowhere near as interesting (or as rentable) as a scantily clad zombie chick.
Emotionally devastated by the loss of her baby daughter, pretty Martha is pregnant again and husband Tom decides it’s high time to leave London and settle in the Irish countryside of his upbringing. He secures a seaside cottage for himself, his wife and their soon-to-be son. It’s a remote, windswept piece of land that hasn’t changed much over the past few centuries, but it’s one I’d personally kill for.
Apparently content, the couple move in and start making the lonely house on the cliff into a home. Soon, the neighbors in the small, bucolic community make themselves known. There’s Orla, Tom’s high school sweetheart. There’s also Sean, the greasy curmudgeon who wouldn’t be out of place as a Scooby Doo villain. And then there’s Jenny, her husband Jim and their two children: a toddler son, and slightly older daughter Daisy, who is severely autistic. Daisy, a little girl as pretty as her namesake, immediately takes a liking to Martha. Martha, in turn, becomes fiercely protective of Daisy after witnessing Sean cursing her and angrily shooing her off his property.
Almost immediately, a bizarre series of tragedies befalls the small town. Daisy’s little brother is found drowned in the ocean. Daisy’s parents perish in a suspicious fire. The social worker who comes to take Daisy to a foster home is killed in a car crash. Thus, Daisy secures herself a spot in Tom and Martha’s life, moving into their home and clinging to Martha like a life preserver.
Not unlike Isabelle Fuhrman, to whom she bears a strong physical resemblance, Daisy is not the innocent orphan she appears to be, and the tragic events don’t stop with the death of her family. Anyone who appears to be a rival for Martha’s affections meets with illness and injury. A little girl nearly drowns in a pool after Daisy maliciously deflates her inflatable ring. Meningitis strikes down a group of kids who refused to play with the girl. The villagers, who have always regarded Daisy with barely disguised fear, begin to whisper about fairy changelings. Martha will have none of it, and her obsession with Daisy begins to exclude both Tom and their unborn son. Is Daisy indeed a fairy child, or is she just a dangerously unbalanced little girl?
In the end, it doesn’t matter much. Daisy is destruction incarnate, and she plows quite an impressive path of ruin through this film before it’s done. You’re never once led to believe that the horrors which unfold are the work of anyone other than Daisy, so don’t expect any surprise twists or stunning reveals.
Superficially, this is a lovely film, filled with ghostly sunbeams, desolate mud flats and wind twisted trees. Shot on location in Ireland, it’s a landscape greener than Leprechaun shit and provides the perfect setting for a creepy Irish folk tale.
Unfortunately, it’s just not all that creepy. It works better as a psychological drama, but that misleading cover art would have you believe otherwise. It’s dark, yes. Tense, yes. But it’s also a by-the-numbers tale whose every twist and turn you’ll see coming a mile away. Saying it’s predictable is like saying that the Irish are known for drinking alcohol on occasion.
The cast is great. Samantha Morton gets extra points for not wearing any makeup and not caring that stretch pants do nothing to flatter her ass. Wee Mhairi Anderson is auspiciously awesome as little Daisy, her multitude of facial expressions making up for her limited dialogue. With a sweet smile and a chilling glare, Mhairi steals the film and makes you root for her, even if she is an evil little fiend after all.
Lacking in both blood and suspense, Daisy Chain is regrettably mediocre. The beauty of Ireland and the competence of the cast hold up the weak story as best they can, but even Atlas got tired after a while.
