Adding a racy dose of queer eroticism to the suspenseful dread of the horror film, Alex Birrell’s second feature settles on a familiar location: an isolated cabin nestled in the deep, dark woods. In the throes of a writer’s block, novelist Ben – played by the film’s co-writer, Joshua Tonks – is interrupted by the arrival of Jay Clift’s enigmatic stranger, who might or might not be a murderous sadist.
With his typewriter and vintage film camera, Ben is a self-professed lover of analogue gadgets. His clean-cut and generic T-shirt-and-jeans look makes for an interesting juxtaposition with his visitor, whose black mane and leather jacket cuts a classic 1970s serial killer figure. While the costuming choices are astute, other aspects of the visuals are forgettable: apart from a few canted POV shots, the cinematic possibilities of the forests and the cabin’s interior are not explored to their full potential. The excess of hallucination and dream sequences is also disruptive, dampening the slow boil of doubt and fear that bubbles up between the two characters.
In spite of this, the sizzling chemistry between Tonks and Clift manages to bring a heat to The Latent Image where the plot and photography may have fallen short. In contrast to the occasionally wooden dialogue, every gaze and touch is charged with palpable sensuality. Clouded by his attraction towards his nameless guest, Ben makes a series of questionable decisions that draws him even closer to mortal danger. Resembling something akin to a morbid death drive, his irrational behaviour mirrors our own relationship to horror films; we might be watching through our fingers, but we simply can’t look away.
• The Latent Image is released on 8 October in UK cinemas and on digital platforms.
