User Reviews

The Blue Rose is a 2023 psychological horror directed and written by 18 year old George Baron. I was lucky enough to be told about it's world premiere at Frightfest 2023, so I went along just for a bit of fun. Only thing is; I rarely watch horror films, I am not a horror fan of any sort, I've never been to a film premiere, and I don't know who David Lynch is. Safe to say, I went into this film completely blind and unbiased. Turns out this was the perfect introduction to indie horror that I could've asked for.

The film starts with a charming little montage of a young "happy" couple in a stereotypical 1950's setting with a catchy tune playing over it, and it hooked me in immediately. We have everything from the grainy film, a smiling woman named Sophie Steele twirling around the kitchen in a red skirt, the wholesome neighbours poking their heads in through the window, and the clean and cut husband coming home to his darling wife who bakes him cherry pies on a daily basis. With perfect timing, the tone of this charming little fantasy suddenly takes a dark turn and grim reality strikes. It wouldn't surprise me if this was a criticism of how we romanticise the 1950's, especially when it comes to marriages and what really went on behind closed doors. This gives us the first glimpse of Nikko Austen Smith's incredible acting range, and believe me when I say this is just a taster of what she can do.

We are then introduced to our main characters; Detective Lily and Dalton who are played by Olivia Scott Welch and director George Baron (quick reminder that this person is 18). Both actors have wonderful chemistry with just the right level of charm to sneak in some subtle humour without killing the tone of the film. It was at this part of the film I noticed some of the clever style choices which makes the film look like it was actually made in the 1950's; when they're driving it's on a greenscreen backdrop with the camera facing directly in front, with the grainy effect making a return. Both detectives are assigned a case to investigate a murder; the victim being the pie loving husband in the opening scene.

This is where we get our first introduction to main villain Norma Steele, played by Danielle Bisutti. Bisutti claimed in an interview that this was "a role she was born to play". Truer words have never been spoken. You could tell she was having the time of her life playing Norma, and it came off so naturally that eventually I began to wonder if she was just going about her daily routine on set and the crew just let the cameras roll. In one particular scene involving a large knife you could see the smallest glimpse of Michelle Crane from Insidious 2 coming through, who Bisutti also played. So if you enjoyed that performance, you'll love this one.

This leads us to the introduction of Glume Harlow as Catherine Christianson; a jazz club singer that's clearly based off Marilyn Monroe (if you have a film set in the 1950's it's an unwritten rule that you must have a character based off Monroe). Just like Lily in the scene, we the audience were drawn into her performance with a voice that is a mix of sweet innocence and seductiveness. It's her childlike and ghostly behaviour while she performs adult acts is what makes you begin to realise that something is a little off in this universe.

I must give a mention to Sophie Cooper who plays Delilah, the character who drew the most laughs from the audience all because of her wonderfully evil smile. If they ever make a gender-bent Joker film, they need to cast her. The finale is when she takes centre stage and gives us a wonderfully venomous performance as the twisted Purgatory Nurse in a purple latex dress.

There's this one devilish little scene involving a cockatiel in a flashback of Norma and her younger sister Sophie. As soon as the focus went onto the bird I knew it was a goner, and 5 seconds later my prediction came true in a sadistic dismemberment. I don't know how they did it, but they made watching two girls torture a bird as entertaining as much as it was sickening. I found myself more impressed with the practical effect of the bird, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to ask a question about the scene, so I asked if the bird was real (which caused a bit of laughter from the audience).

This brings me to my one single criticism I had with the movie; Norma disappears for the last half hour of the film. Just one more scene with her and Sophie in the finale so that Bisutti and Austen Smith could've had a little more screen time together would've been the cherry on top. Scott Welch and Baron work off each so well in their scenes so having Bisutti and Austen Smith in some more scenes together could've been a juxapose to that (one pair's relationship is healthy and supportive, the other is toxic and manipulative).

Towards the end of the film is where we really get to see director George Baron's acting skills really take the spotlight(I'm going to remind you again that he is 18 years old), in one chilling scene involving Dalton in purgatory coming face to face with an asylum inmate called Juliet, who is also played by Baron. While Juliet was giving a chilling monologue about a dream she had to Dalton, (every word and facial expression just oozing with wonderful creepiness) I kept forgetting that both these characters are played by the same person.

If this is what writer-director-actor George Baron can achieve at just the age of 18 then he's definitely going to have a successful career ahead of him, and I'm already interested in any sequel that's planned for this. Before the film began he gave a heartwarming talk to the audience and told us that the film was going to be a melting pot of weirdness and there was no need to take it too seriously. So that's what I did, and the next hour and a half was filled with charm, gore, humour that flowed naturally, and some very stylish costume choices. Everyone involved in this project was clearly having a great time making it, and that enjoyment flowed out of the screen and made us feel the same while watching it. Bearing in mind that this was a low budget film, you can tell that this was solely a passion project and every penny they had was spent wisely in production.

The main thing I enjoyed about this film is that it lets you sit back and work it out for yourself. I went over the scenes in my head multiple times before writing this to come to my own conclusion about what was going on. I have my own theories on what the Blue Rose is all about, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep that to myself as that's something you'll have to work out for yourselves (and I'm hoping this gets released soon so you'll get the opportunity to do just that). However if I watched the film again my theories could change completely, who knows?

That is a high possibility because I do plan to watch it again.