LORD OF TEARS {2013}

 THE FIRST IN LAWRIE BREWSTER'S "OWLMAN" TRILOGY. 

James Findlay's estranged mother has died and he is summoned to a reading of her will.  Amongst other things, Mother has left James the old family pile Baldurrock in the Scottish Highlands.  Mother also warns that James must never return there.  Following in the footsteps of almost all horror movie protagonists, James promptly takes off for Scotland to determine why his childhood living there is so fuzzy.  Once there, James meets a woman named Evie and they hit it off.  James is troubled by nightmares in which he sees disturbing images accompanied by the appearance of a frightening "Owlman" who menaces him.  James finds an old key which unlocks the creepy basement in which he finds a tattered old journal with strange numbers and other enigmatic clues in it.  He uses this and Evie's help to try to piece together his missing past.

As stated at the top, LORD OF TEARS is the first in a (so-far) trilogy of Owlman movies continuing with THE UNKINDNESS OF RAVENS and THE BLACK GLOVES.  Heavily atmospheric with gorgeous location shooting, the film evokes a full on gothic mood with some genuinely creepy moments.  Lead actors Euan Douglas and Lexy Hulme (a.k.a. Alexandra Nicole Hulme) are OK in their roles as James and Evie respectively but won't set the acting world on fire.  Brewster's direction here is pretty good although the couple instances of Lexy Hulme prancing around in slow motion are rather interminable and better left on the cutting room floor.  At 100 minutes, LORD OF TEARS never drags (aside from those slo-mo scenes) and the beautiful house and locations keep the eye engaged.  The Owlman himself (portrayed by David Schofield) is a marvelously creepy costume which is so good it even has it's own action figure!  I mean, just look at the creepy cuss!   The Owlman (whose actual name I'll keep spoiler free) must be a cousin to America's Mothman (a comparison made much of in the disc's special features) and makes a fantastic visual impact with his unearthly, staring black eyes and sharp talons.  I've got the other films in the trilogy and hopefully will be able to watch them and post about them before the Countdown to Halloween is kaput.