Never talk to little girls

When I first saw the movie poster and read the tag “Absolutely terrifying”, I obviously thought “oh well, the latest installment in a long line of recent horror flicks”. How wrong I was. Seeing as I’m rather squeamish by nature, I hesitantly watched the trailer and was surprised to see it wasn’t at all what I was expecting but then again, they don’t always show the really good stuff in the trailer. My next step was reading a synopsis:

14-year-old Hayley Stark meets the 32-year old photographer Jeff in an Internet chat room. They arrange to meet at a local coffee shop where they talk about this and that. Eventually Hayley decides to go home with Jeff seeing as he has a bootleg MP3 of a Goldfrapp concert that she’s dying too hear. Here things take an ugly turn as the innocent little girl decides to teach Jeff, who she suspects is a paedophile (why else would he engage in conversations with a 14-year old girl?), a nasty little lesson.

Hard Candy was a big hit at 2006’s Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest independent film festivals in the United States. It is annually held in Utah and is a showcase for new (and established) American and international independent filmmakers, if you were wondering.

The very contemporary and controversial subject of Internet paedophilia is addressed and if this wasn’t risky enough, it also adds some sensational cruelty to boot. Despite her actions, you can’t help rooting for the little avenging angel which creates a wry aftertaste seeing as her deeds are far from condonable.The subject matter is handled with discretion and tact without exploiting it for the obvious thrills. The title "Hard Candy", by the way comes from the Internet slang for an under-aged girl.

Almost 80 % of the movie takes place in Jeff’s house with him and Hayley being the only characters but due to the intensity of the plot and their chemistry, there is never a dull moment. The colours are cold and metallic combined with tight hand-held close-ups creating an excessively polished style that lends a clinical look to the method behind the madness.The movie includes some shocking but not gratuitous or gruesome scenes. The horror that is conveyed is from a more psychological yet ever so disturbing nature in this cleverly concocted cat and mouse game.

Personally I was intrigued by the concept of the unexpected role reversal and wondered if this two-man show would be viable but it certainly lived up to it’s expectations. It isn’t a typical blood, guts, gore and things that go bump in the night horror flick but it sure as hell created an unbelievable feeling of unease. Due to it’s psychological and simple nature it was able to raise a lot of moral questions while driving the tension to an unparalleled climax.

Oh, and a note to all men: while watching it, bare in mind that it's just a movie.