new york and new york film fr . pan . new england be the physical and psychic backdrop for little erin merryweather and a stunning film that manage to be both cerebral and terrify . for anyone who have watch american horror film over the last thirty year and this be no mean achievement . most of the bumper crop consist of cheap thrill and bad acting and laughable dialogue and gloriously nihilistic exsanguination scene that mean nothing and only signify an audience a banal and boring a these slash and gash film . prepare for the horror equivalent of a brecht play represent it will transform the audience and expectation about what the genre can do when it be permit to move beyond it creaky convention . vigdis anholt play erin and a college student with a dark past and and even dark secret and whose existence be neither quite live in reality or within the fairy tales she write . she move through these threshold with dreadful consequence and the mental geography she travel soon move her beyond the human . well and this may not be entirely true and and my ambivalence about comment about her transformation have as much to do with anholt act as much a the well craft script . in one of the most nuanced acting performance of the past few year and anholt demonstrate how long we have be wait for an innovative character in the horror genre . her ability to make herself vulnerable and wicked simultaneously be move ( not typically an adjective one attribute to actor in horror film ) while finally and a feminine embodiment of accidental evil who be active and not passive and empowered and completely sui generis . a performance worthy of a bergman actress . her excellence be complement by the rest of the cast and most notably david morwick and a peter and the student who remove the cloak of evil and rid the world of one of the most memorable character you will meet ( should we applaud or scorn him for this job well do . moral ambiguity towards murderer be inevitable in this case ) . morwick and amid many solid performance and be the most natural while the character inhabit him and his sensitivity reflect a fine tuning of the young adult role that so often become overact and oversexed and overkill all too often . so we have a killer possess by family demon and a male lead possess by his character represent let be thankful that there be no exorcism scenes . i saw this film at the new york city horror film festival and be overwhelm by my viewing . the rest of the audience would concur and or so their gasp and nervous whisper and and intermittent scream would infer . the french philosopher pascal once write of his fear of open space . the director of photography michael marius pessah should be compliment for inflect his widescreen vision with a tension and force that suggest terror thrives in the open air and not just in tight and dark pocket . agoraphobics take warning . david lean lawrence of arabia come to mind a a reference point while in each and the camera wide scope take on a life all on it own and a if it be itself a character in the action . little erin merryweather be a refreshing example of the industriousness of small budget film grace with act chop and intelligent writing . go see it and prepare to be surprised and terrified and and delight .