Hounds of Love - Ben Young (2017)

Have you ever noticed that fine-art horror movies are much more vicious than what you'll find on the mainstream track?

Filmmaker Ben Young's feature debut, "Hounds of Love" is either a brilliant, terrifying film, clearly influenced by movies like John McNaughton's 1986 masterpiece, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" or it's a complete, unnecessary mess.

I haven't quite decided yet which it is, but I'm leaning toward the former. 

Like "Henry," "Hounds" can be a very hard film to watch. It's certainly not for the squeamish.

If you're itching for a standard horror or serial killer flick, you'd better as hell look somewhere else because "Hounds" does not fit any kind of mold you're used to.

The story follows John and Evelyn White, a couple who passes their time abducting, torturing and killing teenage girls.

Evie looks like the lovechild of the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale. That's not really a crucial detail, but I felt the need to point it out, nonetheless. 
Our protagonist is Vicki Maloney, a young lady, pissed off at her mother for not letting her go to a party. Naturally, just like any teenager would, she sneaks out of the house.

As she walks to the party, a car pulls up, offering weed and a ride. Unfortunately, even though the weed seems up to par, the couple in the car are John and Evelyn, the killer duo.

The saga continues over the next few days as John and Evelyn torture, terrorize and sexually assault this poor girl.

I'm not going to tell you whether Vicki lives or dies. I'm just going to say that at first, the ending feels psychologically implausible. 

But Young sells it nevertheless.

In the end, what we're left with an empty pit in our stomach and an uneasy feeling that very much is wrong in the world.