WISHBABY

Maxine (Tiana Benjamin) is a troubled teenager living in a block of flats on a rough estate in contemporary London. She frequently bunks off school to sneak downtown with her friend Janette (Leona Ekembe). In the absence of her mother, this brings the social workers to the door of her guardian, older brother Colin (Doc Brown).

Plagued by money woes, noisy neighbours above and the constant threat of losing custody of Maxine, Colin is understandably feeling the pressure.

But his parenting skills can't be all that bad, as Maxine does the right thing when she witnesses elderly Eve (Fenella Fielding) being assaulted by a gang of mixed race boys under a tunnel. She races up to the mob and chases them away, then walks Eve home with her pram.

When they reach Eve's home, she invites Maxine into her greenhouse where the eccentric old lady tells the youth about how she was visited by a witch in her childhood, and how she consequently came into possession of the "wishbaby".

Taking Maxine into her home, Eve shows her the doll (the one that, curiously, was emitting baby-like cries from the pram earlier), and tells her that it has the magical power of granting its owner wishes. Maxine is suitably sceptical, so Eve asks the wishbaby to "make them boys sorry - very sorry".

Sure enough, that night the boys come a cropper while indulging in cannabis-fuelled sex and rapping in a disused studio. The following morning, Maxine is alarmed to witness footage of the boys being slain by a baby-faced killer on a friend's mobile phone.

While Colin continues to contend with social workers and the drug-dealing rockers that occupy the flat above, Maxine visits Eve to learn more about the wishbaby. Eve is all too happy to help Maxine develop and nurture a doll of her own.

This initially spells bad news for those who piss Maxine off, improving her immediate surroundings to no end. But as always in films of this theme, the adage "careful what you wish for" should be adhered to - especially when tampering with the occult appears to have released a malevolent lady-in-black that even Eve seems petrified of, who conducts her murderous deeds under the name of The Governess (Claire Cox) ...

WISHBABY is an unexpectedly effective blend of social awareness and atmospheric horror. In this sense, it's at times reminiscent of CANDYMAN with its fusion of urban myth and gritty ghetto concerns.

Here, the concerns are very modern in their telling. Poverty and drugs go hand-in-hand on the estate where Maxine lives, and her struggle is almost as much about being a black teenager in today's Britain as it is about voodoo.

The young cast do a sterling job of delivering credible performances, with Brown offering a surprisingly mature and restrained portrayal of the wayward-but-trying brother. Benjamin is a pleasant surprise in the lead, offering empathy and strength to her character - you soon forget that you know her better as Chelsea in "EastEnders".

Cox is a suitably creepy villain, at her best when she is imposingly silent. Later in the film she gets to speak more with victims, and these attempts at fleshing out her character are admittedly weak. Fielding on the other hand is great as the posh, initially sinister Eve. She has that air of a supporting player in a 70s British horror film - not particularly subtle in her delivery, but a memorable character nonetheless. On a personal note, it was great to see Fielding on the screen again - I'm a big fan of CARRY ON SCREAMING and I don't mind admitting it ...

The film offers a canny balance between gritty realism and almost surreal nightmarish passages, managing to meld the likes of happy-slapping and teen sex with almost quaint shadows-and-fog horror conventions set to an eerie score.

Speaking of the score, this is provided by writer-director Stephen W Parsons. It's a savvy mix of urban beats and genuinely unsettling 'noises', playing on the ever-creepy use of a baby's cries with alarming success. The score is definitely a key element of the film - unsurprising, as this is where Parsons' background lies (he previously scored the likes of FUNNY MAN, THE HOWLING 2 and SPLIT SECOND).

Parsons makes his directorial debut with WISHBABY, and proves himself to be adept at telling a modern tale with a keen pace, tackling sensitive issues with intelligence and tact while never pulling punches and giving his actors the room to breathe life into their well-developed characters.

The balance between social drama and horror is, as mentioned above, a very good one. The film is often scary in an almost under-handed way. While it does offer it's share of exploitation elements (minor gore, sex, copious swearing), WISHBABY gets more mileage out of brooding moments of atmosphere such as a deranged woman singing gently to a doll that she cradles in her arms like a baby.

The film's low budget is obvious but doesn't harm the story, such is the subject matter and setting. On the contrary, it's pleasing to report that the film is filled with many stylish visuals. The haunting imagery may overpower some or even seem to be at loggerheads with the council flat settings, but that's where the music comes in to tie the two together.

While WISHBABY isn't polished enough to earn a crossover audience at the cinema, and doesn't reach the extreme horrors one would assume are necessary to ensure a sizeable cult following these days, it is certainly stacked with striking visual ideas, strong performances, a better-than-average script (once you get past the glaring silliness of the plot) and a commitment towards it's chosen genre.

The film is presented in a decent anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer that correctly conveys the drab colour schemes that reflect the decay of Maxine's surroundings perfectly. Images are sharp and blacks are strong, while grain is evident but natural-looking.

English audio is provided in 2.0 and 5.1 options, both of which serve the onscreen dramatics well.

A static main menu leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 6 chapters.

Extras begin with an audio commentary track from director Stephen Parsons and his assistant, recorded on February 10th 2009. Parsons holds court with this engaging and largely fluent chat, in which he offers a wealth of information relating to locations, budget and problems. He's predictably elated with his cast - Brown is "unbelievable", Fielding is a "legend", Benjamin is "remarkable" and "lovely" - and answers questions that members of the press have posted in especially. Trivia picked up includes the fact that Doc Brown is a rapper acting on the screen for the first time, and Fielding was the most expensive thing in the entire production. Ending your commentary with a quote from Austin Osmond Spare is a little pretentious though, perhaps?!

We also get ROUGH MAGIK, a 41-minute pilot for an undeveloped BBC series. This episode was written and produced by Parsons, and stars veteran TV actor Paul Darrow (BLAKE'S 7) as Mr Moon - a Government covert who has studied the ancient cult of Cthulhu. His years of studying has led him to believe the "Sleeping God" is due to be awoken - essentially, Armageddon is on it's way - and he must act swiftly to rebuild his disbanded organisation in a bid to combat it.

A tad cheap-looking but not without it's own sense of enjoyment, it's tough to call how good this is from a single episode. But it kept me watching and ended on a note that makes the lack of a following series seem a tad tragic. The hook was certainly there. No doubt this will make more sense to those with a greater appreciation of Lovecraft than myself (I'm an admirer, although admittedly not as clued up as I'd like to be). Still, it's presented in a fair 1.78:1 showing with loud English 2.0 audio.

KARMA MAGNET comes next, a 17-minute short directed by Martin Kemp. Yes, you read that right. It stars Gary Kemp as celebrity chef Joel, who we first meet standing on the roof of his house threatening to throw himself off. As a TV crew gathers to film the event, Joel reveals to the police on the rooftop why he's trying to take his own life.

Renowned for the being the luckiest man alive, Joel protests that every time he comes into good fortune (a lot), someone else suffers for it. With his wife Sandra (Adele Silva) pregnant, he must take his own life to save his unborn child. Or see he believes.

Very much looking and feeling like a half-hour TV drama, Kemp's direction is perfunctory but adequate while the lead acting is of the proficient soap opera standard. Peripheral performances are weak. As a 17-minute diversion, KARMA MAGNET serves its purpose well.

Aside from the fact that this 2008 production was the first time the Kemp brothers had worked together since THE KRAYS in 1990, it's most notable for it's credits - Kemp directs, Jonathan Sothcott produces, and Phillip Barron writes. These three are presently repeating these chores on the remake of EXPOSE (a.k.a. THE HOUSE ON STRAW HILL). On the strength of this, there may be cause for concern ...

1.66:1 anamorphic

Finally, there's an 80-second trailer for WISHBABY presented in non-anamorphic 1.78:1.

A good disc with uneven extras serves WISHBABY well. It's certainly worthy of a closer look.

Review by Stu Willis