Post-Easter, the chosen one is making multiple, tardy comebacks. A messianic kiddie keeps a religious cult in thrall in Midnight Special (out next week). This week, it’s Lucie (Troian Bellisario) who must suffer because another group of kooks think she holds the secret to something or other. Based on Pascal Laugier’s authentically horrific 2008 original (warning: contains graphic scenes of flaying), Kevin and Michael Goetz’s US remake is, predictably, less hardcore – a relief for the squeamish at least. What’s left after the gore is stripped away is a mildly bloody, meatless horror. There is just enough smart editing (cutting the violence of a home invasion with images of sliced tomatoes and frying bacon adds flavour) to keep it clinging on to life.
