Review: Lore (2023)

Lore (2023), directed by James Bushe, Patrick Michael Ryder, and Greig Johnson, is a horror anthology film that intertwines ancient myths and contemporary fears into a chilling narrative. Each of the three directors brings a unique vision to the film, resulting in a multifaceted exploration of fear.

As the film begins, we meet four friends, Dan (Miles Mitchell), Mark (Dean Bone), Donna (Sally Collett) and Sally (Samantha Neale); four friends arrange a ghostly hiking excursion. Upon arrival they meet their creepy guide Darwin (Richard Brake – The Night King himself!). Darwin informs are intrepid four that all the other guests others cancelled that morning and that they are the only four left on the trip, so they find a clearing and set up camp for the night which obviously includes a campfire.

Darwin reveals small little wooden totems for them to burn while they tell stories. Each one gives theirs in turn, starting with Mark who tells a story (“Shadows”) of a man being chased for money he owes which features Andrew Lee Potts, Bill Fellows, and Daniel-John Williams.

The second story (“The Hidden Woman”) is told by Dan and involves Hannah (Jennifer K Preston) and her son, Charlie (Theo Preston) settling up the house of a dead relative; Donna then pitches in with the third story (“Cross Your Heart”) which follows a married couple Cath (Katie Sheridan) and Steve (Rufus Hound) who are celebrating their anniversary at a cheap hotel where Steve wants to try swinging! After some persuasion, Sally reluctantly delivers a fourth story to the campfire group. In this story (“The Keychain Man”) we witness three movie buff friends going to see a movie and meet Gareth (Finbar Healy), an exceptionally large man who works on the food counter. Gareth is having a bad night. The fourth story leads into a wraparound tale back around the campfire that may well change the perception of the stories we just heard!

Anthology films can be difficult to pull off and having three directors can sometimes lead to inconsistency especially across multiple tales. In this case the team managed to keep the tone consistent across the assorted styles of horror which enables each story to flow into the next. Yes, some of the stories are generic to their horror styling but each is memorable in its own way.

For me I think “The Keychain Man” was the most memorable. It hits all the comedy horror notes fans of Shaun of the Dead will love. This slasher tale is probably the most accessible of all the tales in the movie and maintains a balance of fear and funny with and adequate splashing of blood too! Keep an eye out for the blinking! “Cross Your Heart” comes in as a close second. Like all these tales, the time restrictions of being part of an anthology speeds up any slow build, “Cross Your Heart” suffers from this but is acted with such zest it becomes a welcome addition to the folk horror genre. The traditional haunting of “The Hidden Woman” also feels too short yet manages to invoke fear in a way similar to The Woman in Black and The Haunting of Hill House. Of all the tales, “Shadows” suffers the most. This psychological horror just feels too quick, and revelations are realised before we have had a chance to question anything. The scenes with Andrew Lee Potts’ “Daniel” and Bill Fellows “Jeff” play very strongly and a nice dynamic is building between them and then suddenly we know everything (or do we?). Again, this is an anthology so I have to take it for what it is, but this tale especially would be an interesting one to develop further and flesh out more. They had the right people to do it.

The wraparound campfire story anchors each tale together well with Richard Brake’s “Darwin” easily becoming the breakout character of the film. I expect to see him with many more story tellers around the campfire. Furthermore, I enjoyed the fact that this might not be the last time we see our story tellers. Linking the storyteller and the story in this way paves they way for so much more to come from this. It remains a unique angle that has not been that explored on the big screen, perhaps a prequel movie could be next, featuring the characters of each story told here, telling their own stories around the campfire? It could be a franchise that builds in reverse.

In a world where The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and Inside No. 9 already exist, Lore provides a unique spin on what could be argued are generic tales. Lore proves it is the story that has the power, not the production budget. By sticking to the story is shows what you can achieve when you are willing to go there – be it fear, blood, guts, or the human mind! My only wish was that each tale was longer.

Verdict: 7.5/10. A solid anthology with something for every horror lover out there. I hope this is not the last time we get to meet Darwin in the woods as there is so much potential to come from this film.

Lore can be seen exclusively on the Icon Film Channel. Sign up for a 7-day free trial at iconfilmchannel.uk or via the Icon Film Channel on Amazon Prime! It will then hit Select UK Cinemas from 27th September 2024 and then available on Home Entertainment from 21th October 2024.