Await Further Instructions
by Johnny Kevorkian
Await Further Instructions is a British sci-fi horror flick that's great to watch this time of year as the Holidays are in full swing. A small family get together on Christmas leads to paranoia and mayhem when in the middle of the night they find themselves trapped inside their own home and just the television set to give them guidance.
For a low-budget film I was pretty impressed by this one. Was this the best film I've seen this year? Not by a long shot, but it also wasn't close to the worst. Sure, there were a few lulls in the film and I found myself bored a few times, but overall, I found the story to be intriguing enough to keep me watching and the practical effects were pleasing.
The dynamic between family members felt realistic, though there were a few times where the over-religious, racist father thing was grating on my nerves. Perhaps that was the point though, you're not supposed to feel comfortable at a family gathering if dad starts berating your foreign girlfriend. The characters were sort of cardboard cutouts that we've all seen in other films, but it didn't detract from the story so much as adding to the tension. I enjoy a good, low-budget sci-fi flick, and for the whole film to unravel in one place, the claustrophobia of it all wasn't dull or lost on me.
I think from early on it's easy to assume you know how the film is going to play out, or at least for me it was. Sometimes that's a real bummer when watching horror films, but it didn't kill it for me. The end is quite bizarre and bleak, but I'm the type of person who enjoys something like that. I also feel like this film did a great job of showcasing the progression of paranoia and fear-mongering as well as putting society's tendency to believe whatever we see on TV on display.
Await Further Instructions is a fun little film to watch this Holiday season if you're bored with the same ol' same ol' of years' past, but I'd avoid watching the trailer or reading too much about it if you want some element of surprise to remain intact.
Stevie Kopas, HMS