We've had to wait a while for Unwelcome (previously called The Little People) which was set to spook us last February before being shifted to October and then its current release date.
You'd even be forgiven for not knowing it was finally coming out too with little buzz around. Combined with the date changes, it doesn't exactly fill you with hope despite the strong premise.
The latest movie from Grabbers director Jon Wright centres on a couple who move to rural Ireland, only to discover that malevolent goblins called 'Redcaps' live at the bottom of their garden. And these 'Redcaps' – so known because they dip their caps in the blood of their victims – are thirsty for more blood.
Wright had us at "killer goblins" from the moment we heard of Unwelcome, but he ends up withholding them for too long. When it comes to creature features, often less is more and initially, the movie gets the approach right, with shadowy glances of the 'Redcaps' in the background.
However, it ends up being more than an hour of the movie before the 'Redcaps' are fully unleashed and the story isn't interesting enough on its own. Before the goblins land, we're mostly treated to repetitive scenes involving Jamie (Douglas Booth) and Maya's (Ant-Man and The Wasp's Hannah John-Kamen) struggles to settle into their new home.
Chief among their problems are the worst builders in the world, a family unit led by "Daddy" Whelan (Colm Meaney), who creepily insists he's called that, and including daughter Aisling (Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O'Donnell). They're terrible at their job and awful to Jamie and Maya, but we don't need numerous scenes to tell us this.
Repetition is the name of the game though as we even get several references to the trauma suffered by Jamie and Maya. We see the violent break-in they endured during the movie's cold open, but the movie is never confident enough that the viewer can fill in the gaps between the trauma and why Jamie is trying to be an alpha male.
It's all one-note and trite 'fish out of water' drama until Wright takes the handbrake off and morphs Unwelcome into a different kind of home-invasion horror. As ever, the creatures aren't the real villains here, although you'd also be hard-pushed to call the 'Redcaps' total sweethearts.
Like an army of murderous Yodas, the 'Redcaps' are vicious and relentless, but also darkly funny with their child-like ways: "No hitting, silly-billy," one says during the entertaining final act carnage as the blood drenches the screen. They're brilliantly brought to life by a blend of puppetry and visual effects, and they save the movie.
Perhaps unleashing the 'Redcaps' earlier might have proved to be too much of a good thing. In the end, we learn so little of them and their world that Unwelcome would likely have only benefitted from further exploration of the bloodthirsty critters.
As it is, Unwelcome proves a bit of a trudge for the first hour or so, but it proves worth it in the end for a genuinely brilliant final third that's equal parts brilliant and bonkers.
Unwelcome is out now in UK cinemas.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
