The Locals

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * *)

The Locals, the debut feature of rock video-maker and ad whiz Greg Page, is spirited in more ways than one.

It has abundant energy and menacing atmosphere fair surging through the film about two Aucklanders lost in the Waikato wop-wops.

It drums up the Kiwi gothic spooky stuff, from the opening sequence which swoops across that back-country, some of the shots providing - on retrospect - clues to the ensuing mystery. But The Locals isn't quite the great New Zealand horror flick that those who might be rehearsing their early-days-of-Peter-Jackson comparisons might have wanted.

It has ambitions way above being a gleeful splatter like Jackson's Bad Taste/Brain Dead era. But it can't live up to its twist-upon-twist set-up.

Its storytelling heads up too many one-way roads, there are tone control problems and its mostly young cast aren't overburdened with screen presence.

The film tries to show the leading pair as best mates but the colloquial dialogue comes off as forced. For a while it seems as if the lead pair are called "dude" and "bro" - actually their names are Grant (Barker) and Paul (Cameron).

Also, it suffers glitches in the science department. After being run off the road and stuck, the pair's four-wheel-drive car appears to turn into a two-wheel-drive.

Those backroads are mysteriously lit by something other than the hapless two's small torch, and the attempt at a molotov cocktail with a bottle of vodka meets with spectacular success - don't try this at home, kids, it won't work.

But it's still mildly gripping and provides enough of a brain-teaser along the way as Paul and Grant discover the folks of the title. Some have interestingly retro tastes in fashion. Some seem to suffer fatal injuries only to come back again and some walk slowly while chasing the two through the countryside, which is a sure sign of something amiss in their diet.

It comes with effective music, care of a raucous local rock soundtrack and composer Victoria Kelly's eerie score. And, along the way, it has some fun at the expense of Lord of the Rings and - perhaps unintentionally - Thelma and Louise.

It's a B-plus kind of horror, worth investigating by genre fans tired of the Hollywood equivalent. It's also a reminder that at night, an empty Waikato paddock can hold more spooks than a haunted house. Russell Baillie

Cast: John Barker, Dwayne Cameron, Kate Elliott, Aidee Walker, Paul Glover

Director: Greg Page Rating: R13 (violence & horror scenes)

Running time: 89 mins

Screening: Village, Hoyts cinemas