The Radleys
The horror-comic tale of a vampiric suburban Yorkshire family is a pallid affair with a deficiency of lifeblood and style.
Family business: Damian Lewis and Kelly Macdonald
Image courtesy of Sky Cinema.
As the world awaits the release of Robert Eggers’ version of Nosferatu this Christmas, a new remake of F.W. Murnau’s classic 1922 chiller crept onto Amazon Prime last month (David Lee Fisher's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror). And if all this blood-sucking were not enough for fans of the genre, we now have a very English edition in the form of The Radleys. The most surprising credit attached to this odd little piece is the name of Jo Brand, the former nurse and bolshy comedian, who apparently developed the idea herself from the 2010 novel of the same name by Matt Haig. As there are varieties of blood groups, so there are differing genres of vampire movie, from the carnal to the comic. This one, described as a comic horror film, is a rather bloodless affair and is neither very funny nor remotely carnal.
Set in Yorkshire in an anodyne suburb of God-knows-where (Whitby), the film stars Damian Lewis as twin brothers who could hardly be more different. There’s Peter Radley, a nerdy, effortlessly square doctor who cycles to work and is beloved by his wife, Helen (Kelly Macdonald), who is a naïve painter in both senses of the word. Then there is Will Radley, who travels the country in his motor home, wears his hair shoulder-length and sports a leather jacket with the attitude to match.
One can see why Damian Lewis was drawn to playing this contemporary Jekyll and Hyde, if only to exercise his acting fangs. In fact, the only thing that Peter and Will have in common is their lust for human blood. Then there’s their neighbour Jared Copeleigh – played with every available tic by Shaun Parkes – an ex-copper who believes in vampires. There’s a lot of over-acting in the adult camp, as if they had all been drilled by the director Euros Lyn to consume large quantities of Hammer Horror box sets.
The younger members of the cast are entirely more credible, reminding one that Euros Lyn’s previous credit was the runaway Netflix teen hit Heartstopper (all sixteen episodes of the first two series). There’s a touch of the homo-erotic carried over from Heartstopper here, although it’s hardly developed. In fact, very little is. The story’s most interesting character is the flame-haired Tilly (Madeleine Power), an outspoken, pro-active flirt who vanishes without explanation after a few scenes, unlike Freddie Wise’s obnoxious cad, whose bloody demise drives the wheels of the narrative.
The Radleys are meant to be your typical suburban family unit – that is the joke – although they live in an atypical space, as if the cast had been rustled into a Wimpey show home. In fact, none of the interiors feel lived in, other than Will’s caravan, creating an overarchingly artificial mise en scène. The score is also fatally misjudged, eliciting neither goosebumps nor laughs, leaving the whole thing to implode into an embarrassing muddle. Only Kelly Macdonald manages to inject a note of credibility into her role as the perfect suburban wife and mum. “Does your mum knit?” enquires Carla Radley’s boyfriend Evan (Jay Lycurgo). Carla (Bo Bragason): “That is the single most revolting thing I’ve ever heard.” We could have done with more of that. Unfortunately, Euros Lyn’s roots in television (Last Tango in Halifax, Broadchurch) are all too evident, as this pallid misfire fails to flex a single cinematic muscle in its body.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Damian Lewis, Kelly Macdonald, Harry Baxendale, Bo Bragason, Jay Lycurgo, Sophia Di Martino, Shaun Parkes, Steven Waddington, Madeleine Power, Freddie Wise, with the voice of Siân Phillips.
Dir Euros Lyn, Pro Debbie Gray, Ex Pro Damian Lewis, Screenplay Talitha Stevenson, from a script by Jo Brand, from the novel by Matt Haig, Ph Nanu Segal, Pro Des Sarah Jenneson, Ed Jamie Pearson, Music Keefus Ciancia, Costumes Joanna Eatwell, Sound Arthur Graley, Dialect coach Nia Lynn.
Genesius Pictures/Ginger Biscuit Entertainment/Ingenious Media-Sky Cinema.
111 mins. UK. 2024. US Rel: 4 October 2024. UK Rel: 11 October 2024. Cert. R.
