Cert 15
97 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong sustained threat, violence
It took my best persuasive skills to talk Mrs W into going to watch William Brent Bell's The Boy because horror movies are not her bag.
But it transpired that The Boy is much more weird than scary.
It stars Lauren Cohan as Greta, an American woman, who takes a job as a nanny/governess in England to avoid domestic abuse at home.
However, instead of babysitting for a little boy, it turns out that she will be looking after a porcelain doll whose 'parents' treat as if he were real.
Then they do no more than pop off on holiday, leaving our lass with what looks like might turn out to be Chucky mark 2 in a huge, badly-lit mansion..
And, sure enough, shortly after they have driven into the distance, things start to go bump in the night
The question is why does Greta not just turn tail as soon as it becomes clear that her new charge is inanimate and her new employers are unstable?
Well, aside of the money, one of the attractions of this bizarre new job is a love interest in the shape of the local grocer (Rupert Evans) who is smitten as soon as he sees the lovely Greta,
But their relationship is definitely secondary between hers and the creepiest doll in Britain.
So, why have I given The Boy as many as 6/10? Well, because of a final 15 minutes during which I was prompted to leap from my seat four times.
Yes, it takes a while to warm up but when it does, scares abound.
The Boy is bonkers and its acting and script are formulaic until late on when it just about earns the price of its ticket.
Reasons to watch: makes the audience jump
Reasons to avoid: takes too long before it really ratchets up the action
Laughs: none
Jumps: four
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6/10
Star tweet
Lauren Cohan a very particular ...boy. film is coming out soon, in cinemas Jan 22nd, can't wait for you guys…