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Sightseers

4/10

Stars: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Jonathan Aris, Monica Dolan, Richard Glover, Eileen Davies, Rachel Austin, Richard Lumsden

Director: Ben Wheatley

Allegedly a black comedy, although rarely funny, this horror-tinged psycho-chiller fails to succeed, largely because its protagonists are so unpleasant; creepy even.

Low IQ Tina (Lowe), 34, a slave to her mother, who pretends to be always ill, sets off on a caravan holiday (still mourning the loss of her dog, Poppy) with her new boyfriend Chris (Oram), who's still fuming over the recent loss of his job.

Boiling over at the slightest provocation, Chris runs over a man who upsets him on a coach outing by dropping litter, then crushes the skull of a guy who gets his goat at the caravan site. Tina steals the deceased's dog, which poops at a National Heritage site, dooming a passer-by when he complains.

The imbecilic Tina finally gets the hang of all this, dispatching a bride-to-be who (very improbably) kisses Chris during a hen party at the restaurant where the murderous couple is dining.

And so it goes, with the set-ups to the killings all too painfully obvious. Almost none of this works. You're more likely to turn away than laugh, though a faint smile may be raised when Tina tells Chris at the restaurant that's she's wearing no kickers. He duly crawls under the table (as you do), but says he can't see anything. No, she tells him, she's wearing tights. No? Well, it's the best this unpalatable misfire can manage.

Still, Wheatley is a cult figure in UK films at the moment, so some critics may praise this. You shouldn't be deceived.

David Quinlan

UK 2012. UK Distributor: StudioCanal. Colour (unspecified).
87 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 2, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.

Review date: 26 Nov 2012