The opening gala film of the SOHOME HORROR PRIDE 2024 film festival, The Piper is an aurally intense fairytale horror that holds true to its German folklore and Grimm origins in its atmosphere of darkness and overwhelming danger. Centred on the tale of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, first recorded by the Grimm Brothers in 1812, The Piper, directed by Erlingur Thoroddsen, revolves around a mysterious concerto whose last act is missing and is up to orchestral flautist Mel (Charlotte Hope) to finish, with grave consequences.
After the tragic death of her mentor, Mel is struggling to hold it together whilst having financial woes due to her daughter’s need for updated hearing aids, as well as dealing with the egotistical and explosive attitudes of men she encounters in her job as a composer. When she promises orchestra conductor Gustafson (played by the late Julian Sands) the finished concerto, she soon discovers that anyone who listens to the piece of music opens themselves up to being haunted by a spectre known as The Pied Piper. When a friend’s son disappears after listening to the composition, Mel must fight to not only prevent the performance of the concerto, but also to save her own daughter from the clutches of the evil piper.
Whereas previous attempts within the last year to adapt the Germanic tale have sadly fallen flat, The Piper brings the mediaeval folklore into the modern era with modern morals attached. Depicting a morality tale of the dangers of obsession, workaholic-ism, and the exhausting and barely appreciated efforts of working mothers, Thoroddsen weaves a wicked nightmarish vision where even the sight of a solitary rat will make audiences’ skin crawl. With a score by infamous horror music maestro Christopher Young (Sinister, Hellraiser, Drag Me To Hell), The Piper is at times, an overwhelming sensorial immersive experience, dragging viewers into the middle of Mel’s visions and aural hallucinations.
The Piper’s final sequence does fall into a trap of overdone and rudimentary computer generated special FX unfortunately but this seems almost forgivable due to the creeping atmosphere of dread that is created in the first hour of run time.
Continuing on the thematic text of sensory curses that films like Ringu (1998) have previously set in place, The Piper is a haunting rumination on the damage caused by blind and obsessive fixations.
3.5 Screams out of 5
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