Review of The Seasoning House (2012) by Barry T — 16 Feb 2014

One line summary: Brutal depiction of military enslavement and cruelty in the Balkans.

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Set in the Balkans in 1996 during war. Goran rounds up women, keeps the few he likes for his house of prostitution, and kills the rest. Goran selected the deaf-mute Angel to serve as housekeeper of sorts in the whore house. Goran had Angel's mother shot to death before her eyes.

Viktor runs the whore house and treats Angel less savagely than he treats the involuntary prostitutes. Angel is slim enough to navigate the air vents. She uses this to do the prostitutes small favors, like giving a piece of chocolate.

When Goran returns, one of his soldiers brutally uses one of Angel's friends. He suffocates her while he reaches climax. Angel witnesses this, and stabs the rapist multiple times. She barely escapes through the air vents. The rest of the soldiers decide to find her.

Will Angel escape? Will there be any justice for the rapist military criminals?

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Cinematography: 6/10 Good, though sometimes more than a bit out of focus. There was a tendency to show fog way too much. Outdoors, sure. Indoors? That is harder to believe.

Sound: 4/10 Sometimes fine. Often the conversation levels are very low, while the dramatic incidental music is off-the-charts loud.

Acting: 6/10 Sean Pertwee and Rosie Day were fine, and Kevin Howarth was not bad. The rest of the cast was poor.

Screenplay: 6/10 Slow and methodical, and fairly convincing in its description of real horror in large quantities. However, I thought it gave in too often to portraying people as caricatures rather than more rounded individuals. I liked the last scene with Angel and Goran, though I thought there was not enough retribution.