Tom Thumb has a picnic at hanging rock.

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2002)

This movie,along with "the sixth sense" and some recent other ones ,is the volte-face of the fantasy and horror genre.The disappearance of these special effects which has been defacing the "scary movies" since ,say,"the exorcist".A return to pure psychological suspense.Like Don Siegel 's "invasion of the body snatchers"(1956),there are here no stars,and a shoestring budget.The form is unique,for it is an amateur camera work,almost a draft,giving the terrible feeling the heroes have really been through it all.
The fears we feel in this work recall childhood terrors:the forest,when you are small may be beguiling ,but it's also an unknown world.Who has never been afraid of getting lost in this maze of trees and bushes?That's Tom Thumb syndrome:in the movie,the heroine's map is an equivalent of Tom Thumb's stones.These stones which the three lads find in front of the tent might be a nod in the direction of Charles Perrault;as the (witch's?) house might be a hint at Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel".
Most of the terror happens in the midday sun:a fantasy and horror movie does not necessarily mean darkness.I would go as far as saying that the scenes in the daylight are the scariest:Peter Weir opened up the way in 1977 with his classic "picnic at hanging rock".The three characters 'roaming round this quiet place , waiting for SOMETHING to happen,all this is extremely disturbing.There's an impending menace,but we do not know exactly what it is,and our fears are increased tenfold.Strange signs along the way ,a gruesome treasure hunt. At night,the screen becomes sometimes completely black:in all,about five minutes(!),enough to put the spectator in a cold sweat.
Like "picnic at hanging's rock" or"the haunting" (1963),the ending leaves you in front of a huge hole.A movie to treasure.