Aaaaaaaah!

Last updated

Aaaaaaaah!
Aaaaaaaah!.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Steve Oram
Written bySteve Oram
Produced bySteve Oram
Andrew Starke
StarringSteve Oram
Tom Meeten
Julian Barratt
Toyah Willcox
Julian Rhind-Tutt
Noel Fielding
Holli Dempsey
CinematographyMatthew Wicks
Edited bySteve Oram
Music by King Crimson ProjeKcts
David Westlake
Distributed byLincoln Studios
Rook Films Releasing
Release date
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom

Aaaaaaaah! is a 2015 British horror comedy film written and directed by Steve Oram. [1] [2] [3] [4] The film contains no dialogue, with the cast communicating entirely in animalistic grunts. It premiered in August 2015 at London FrightFest Film Festival. In 2016 the film was released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on Icon Productions's Frightfest Presents label. [5] The film has received a positive critical reception.

Contents

Plot

Two men, Smith (Steve Oram) and Keith (Tom Meeten) arrive in a woodland clearing. Smith cries over a photograph of his estranged wife before he and Keith perform a ritual in which they urinate on the photograph. Keith dries Smith's eyes and penis and they head downhill towards a vast suburban sprawl.

In the Ryan family household, a young woman, Denise (Lucy Honigman), is preparing dinner with her mother, Barabara (Toyah Willcox). They watch a cookery show in which the topless host Rayna (Shelley Longworth) prepares a meat, potato and salt dinner. Barabara copies the recipe and tenderises a steak by bashing it on the kitchen door.

Smith and Keith arrive in town and decide to follow a scruffy man, Og (Sean Reynard) who masturbates in an underpass using a mouse. Smith and Keith rough him up and scare him. Og returns to his 'alpha', Ryan (Julian Rhind-Tutt) to tell him about these new threatening males, but Ryan gives him a beating and forces him to set up the new widescreen television. Ryan and Og sit down to play a motorbike game on the games console.

The family eats dinner, but Og tries to have sex with Denise and she leaves the room. In the kitchen she sees her father, Jupiter (Julian Barratt) looking sadly in at the kitchen window. She gives him a Battenburg cake and they share a tender moment before Jupiter returns to the garden where he now lives. He lies under a tree with his cake, a broken man.

We see a Flashback of a previous time when Jupiter was the alpha male of the house. He serves a Sunday Roast human leg to Barabara, Denise and Og. But Og disrupts the happy scene by confronting him aggressively, an act that Jupiter fails to deal with properly. The washing machine breaks down and Barabara rounds on Jupiter also.

Back in the dinner room, the family eats pudding. Ryan initiates a food fight and covers Barabara with blancmange. Barabara retaliates and they have a huge fight. Denise storms out of the house, fed up with them all.

In the park Denise meets up with her streetwise cousin Helen (Holli Dempsey) and they drink vodka together. Helen has itchy VD and Denise suggests she pour vodka down her crotch which she does. They go shoplifting and are caught by a shop assistant, Carl (Noel Fielding). The shop manager (Waen Shepherd) interrogates them in the basement and masturbates in front of them before falling asleep on his desk. Carl then gets Helen to give him a blow job, but Helen bites his penis off. The girls flee with some money from the cash box.

A debauched party is now going on at the Ryan house. Denise and Helen return and flaunt the money they stole in front of Ryan, but he is paralytic on drink and drugs and passes out. Smith and Keith arrive at the party and piss on the walls, scent marking it. They graffiti Ryan's sleeping face, then Keith rests his testicles on Ryan's head and Smith photographs it on Ryan's phone, which he returns to Ryan's pocket. Smith and Keith disrupt the party and Smith has sex with Denise in the bathroom.

Smith, Keith and Denise leave the party. They break into an unoccupied house where Smith & Denise perform a 'wedding' ritual to celebrate their union.

Next morning Ryan awakes, hungover and graffitied. He smokes outside and Jupiter laughs at his face.

We see another flashback which charts Jupiter's fall from 'alpha' status. Barabara and Ryan, the washing machine repair man, flirt. Ryan then forms an alliance with Og before Ryan and Barabara have sex on top of the washing machine in front of Jupiter. Ryan and Og then beat Jupiter senseless, goaded on by Barabara, while Denise looks on distraught.

Ryan sees the photograph on his phone of Keith's testicles resting on his head and is furious. He and Og head out on the warpath and clash with Smith and Keith on some waste ground. Keith is stabbed by Og before Smith chases Og, smashing his head on the ground and killing him. Smith then rips Ryan's arm off and leaves him for dead.

Smith and Denise return to the house. Smith smashes up the kitchen in a display to convince Barabara of his new alpha status, but she is unconvinced. He tries to have sex with her but cannot get it up and Barabara laughs at him. Smith collects Keith's body and gives him a 'funeral' before placing his corpse in the wheelie bin. Barabara is also unimpressed by this.

Smith invites Jupiter into the house and tries to involve him in the new 'family' group, but Jupiter only manages to wet his pants before sitting alone repeatedly watching an inane children's TV show involving an animated chicken. Smith repairs the house and gradually begins to win Barabara over. They all sit down to watch a sitcom starring two big comedy stars (Tony Way and Alice Lowe) which features slo-mo action replays of lame pratfalls. They all enjoy it and Jupiter seems to get his 'voice' back. This delights Denise and they seem to be a happy 'family' at last.

In the night Jupiter stabs Barabara, Smith and Denise to death, then sits back down to watch the animated chicken on TV.

Cast

Production

The film was shot over two weeks during the summer of 2014. [6] The film's soundtrack features a number of tracks from the King Crimson ProjeKcts albums. [7]

Reception

The critical reception has been positive, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes giving it a rating of 79% based on 14 reviews. [8] The film went on to receive a British Independent Film Awards Nomination, [9] as well as a special jury mention at Cleveland International Film Festival. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Gosford Park</i> 2001 period film directed by Robert Altman

Gosford Park is a 2001 satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. It was influenced by Jean Renoir's French classic La Règle du jeu.

<i>Lost in Space</i> 1965–1968 American science fiction television series

Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson. The series follows the adventures of the Robinsons, a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in the depths of space. The show ran for 83 episodes over three seasons. The first season comprised 29 episodes that ran 1 hour apiece, filmed in black and white. In seasons 2 and 3, the episodes were 54 minutes long and shot in color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toyah Willcox</span> British singer and actress

Toyah Ann Willcox is an English singer, actress, and TV presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, she has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays and 10 feature films, and voiced and presented numerous television shows.

<i>Lost in Space</i> (film) 1998 science fiction film by Stephen Hopkins

Lost in Space is a 1998 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins, and starring William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Gary Oldman, and Heather Graham. The plot is adapted from the 1965–1968 CBS television series of the same name. Several actors from the TV show make cameo appearances.

<i>Alpha Dog</i> 2006 crime drama film by Nick Cassavetes

Alpha Dog is a 2006 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Willis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?</span> 3rd episode of the 11th season of The Simpsons

"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner" is the third episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1999. In the episode, Homer becomes a food critic for a Springfield newspaper and ends up annoying the restaurant owners of Springfield after he makes negative reviews just to be mean, advice he took from fellow critics. Springfield's restaurant owners then attempt to kill Homer by feeding him a poisoned éclair. American actor Ed Asner guest starred in the episode as the newspaper editor who hires Homer.

<i>Chances Are</i> (film) 1989 film by Emile Ardolino

Chances Are is a 1989 American romantic comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O'Neal, and Mary Stuart Masterson in Panavision. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre.

<i>The Comfort of Strangers</i> (film) 1990 Italian film

The Comfort of Strangers is a 1990 psychological thriller film directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson, and Helen Mirren. The screenplay by Harold Pinter was adapted from the 1981 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan.

Jim Robinson (<i>Neighbours</i>) Australian soap opera character

Jim Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Alan Dale. Jim was created by Reg Watson as one of Neighbours' twelve original characters. He made his on-screen debut in the soap's first episode, which was broadcast on 18 March 1985. Jim was the patriarch of the Robinson family. Dale departed the show in 1993 after falling out with the producers over pay and his character was killed off on 29 April 1993. Dale filmed some scenes for the serial in September 2018, which aired on 25 December 2018 and 25 March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Oram</span> English actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker

Stephen John Oram is an English actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He is known for his role in the multi-award winning 2012 film Sightseers, which he also co-wrote. His other credits include People Like Us (2001), It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004), Tittybangbang (2006–2007), Suburban Shootout (2006), The Mighty Boosh (2007), Connections (2008), The World's End (2013), Wipers Times (2013), The Secrets (2014), The Canal (2014), Altar (2014), Paddington (2014), Glue (2014), Aaaaaaaah! (2015), The Living and the Dead (2016), A Dark Song (2016), The End of the F***ing World (2017–2019), Ghosts (2019), Doctor Who (2021), Killing Eve (2022), and D.I Ray (2022–2023).

<i>The Tempest</i> (1979 film) 1979 British drama film

The Tempest is a 1979 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Directed by Derek Jarman, produced by Don Boyd, with Heathcote Williams as Prospero, it also stars Toyah Willcox, Jack Birkett, Karl Johnson and Helen Wellington-Lloyd from Jarman's previous feature, Jubilee (1977).

<i>From Time to Time</i> (film) Julian Fellowes 2009 British childrens film

From Time to Time is a 2009 British fantasy drama film directed by Julian Fellowes starring Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Carice van Houten, Alex Etel, Eliza Bennett, Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, and Pauline Collins. It was adapted from Lucy M. Boston's children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958). The film was shot in Athelhampton Hall, Dorset.

<i>Cherry Tree Lane</i> 2010 film by Paul Andrew Williams

Cherry Tree Lane is a 2010 British drama horror-thriller film, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams.

Roy Shepherd MBE was an Australian pianist who is most renowned as a piano teacher at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium.

<i>Mystery of the 13th Guest</i> 1943 American crime/mystery film by William Beaudine

The Mystery of the 13th Guest is a 1943 American crime/mystery film directed by William Beaudine and released by Monogram Pictures. It is based on Armitage Trail's 1929 novel The 13th Guest and is an updated version of the 1932 film The Thirteenth Guest. The film stars Helen Parrish as a young woman who returns to her grandfather's house 13 years after his death to read his will according to his wishes.

<i>The Warriors Husband</i> 1933 film by Lesley Selander, Walter Lang

The Warrior's Husband is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Elissa Landi, David Manners, and Ernest Truex. It tells the story of the Amazons, who ruled over men thanks to the sacred girdle of Diana, and Hercules who came to steal it. The film is based on a 1932 Broadway production of Julian Thompson's 1924 play that starred Katharine Hepburn in the lead role.

<i>Lost in Space</i> (2018 TV series) American science fiction television series

Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series following the adventures of a family of space colonists whose ship veers off course. The series is a reimagining of the 1965 series of the same name, inspired by the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson and the 1962 Gold Key comic book Space Family Robinson, created by Del Connell and artist Dan Spiegle.

<i>The Photograph</i> (2020 film) 2020 film directed by Stella Meghie

The Photograph is a 2020 American romantic drama film written and directed by Stella Meghie. It follows the estranged daughter of a famous photographer who falls in love with the journalist who is investigating her late mother's life. Chelsea Peretti, Lil Rel Howery and Courtney B. Vance also star.

<i>Barbarians</i> (2021 film) 2021 British thriller film

Barbarians is a 2021 horror film written and directed by Charles Dorfman and starring Iwan Rheon, Tom Cullen, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Inès Spiridonov. It follows a group of four at a dinner party which is derailed by masked invaders.

References

  1. "'AAAAAAAAH!': Frightfest Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  2. "'AAAAAAAAH!': Review". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  3. "Film Review: 'Aaaaaaaah!'". Cine-Vue. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  4. "Aaaaaaaah! review – satire of beastly behaviour". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  5. "Aaaaaaaah! DVD / Blu Ray / VOD at Frightfest Presents". Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  6. Screen Daily interview with Steve Oram 28/8/15
  7. Aaaaaaaah! film review, Variety
  8. Aaaaaaaah! at Rotten Tomatoes
  9. Aaaaaaaah! BIFA nomination
  10. "CIFF 2016 awards". Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.