The Dreadful is writer/director/producer Natasha (Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Tale) Kermani's latest: a foreboding, folk horror yarn that features a set of Game of Thrones stars as a headlining enticer.
The medieval exploit takes place during the War of the Roses (when the House of Lancaster battled the House of York), and like most wars, the consequences reek of recklessness and subsequent sorrow, though such are told more through allusion than succinct depiction.
For the most part, The Dreadful's proceedings are confined and result in Psycho-type murders. Marcia Gay Harden's relentless Morwen is the culprit behind most of the deaths. She's a mad, paranoid woman who lives with her daughter-in-law, Sophie Turner's amiable Anne, whose husband, Shamus (Laurence O'Furarain: shown in flashback) went off to war, but died, or so his returning friend, Kit Harington's evasive Jago, claims. To add to the menace, a mysterious knight haunts the countryside, killing as well, but why?
To reveal the link would spoil the outcome. However, the gnawing build-up enriches the plot, with Kermani creating a notching dread, comparable to her Abraham's Boys, but with trimmings lifted from Witchfinder General, Mark of the Devil and The Blood on Satan's Claw.
Jamal Green's earthy score and Julia Swain's idyllic photography ensure the folkish quality, and if but for a moment, The Dreadful seems inclined to enter Wuthering Heights territory, but its unnerving undercurrent (sprung from dashed hopes and dreams) are pinned on classic, slasher tropes. Not only does Psycho color the concept, but Homicidal, Dementia 13, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Silent Night, Bloody Night and, if I may be so bold, Black Sunday (The Mask of Satan), if only per a peripheral but saturating, visual strand.
Kermani is proving herself a master at taking the established and spinning it on its head, all through serene settings, character development and general irony. In other words, she makes the familiar feel unfamiliar. That's impressive, and when all is said and done, so is The Dreadful.
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