After becoming the hottest British talent around following the gritty social realism of London To Brighton, Paul Andrew Williams returns with the horror-comedy The Cottage. It sounds like career suicide – surely only Pegg and Frost have made a defining leap through the genre? – but The Cottage doesn’t disappoint. Brothers Andy Serkis and Reece Shearsmith have kidnapped Jennifer Ellison but it seems that the desolate cottage that they’ve chosen as their base isn’t the most welcoming of venues.
The Cottage isn’t quite up to Shaun of the Dead standards, but its macabre slapstick is very League of Gentlemen – so much so that Shearsmith must be intrigued as to how The Cottage easily surpasses the film of his TV hit. Barring the brother’s fractious relationship, the plot is fairly meagre but the surreal humour and old school shocks guarantee an entertaining experience. It’s hardly a cerebrally engaging work, but Williams emerges with his reputation intact.
