STOKED

STOKER, d. Park Chan-Wook (2013)

A beautifully composed hybrid of Night Of The Hunter and, in particular, Hitchcock’s Shadow Of A Doubt, Stoker seems to have slipped into almost immediate obscurity, a status I'm sure will be re-evaluated in years to come, probably after I'm dead. 

In the Hitchcock film, the enigmatic Uncle Charlie comes to stay with the family he hasn’t seen for years. His teenage niece is almost in love with him at first but, as she grows closer to him, she realises that he is a psychotic killer and, revolted, she brings him to justice. 

In the Park Chan-Wook film, Uncle Charlie arrives after the untimely death of his brother in a car crash, and decides to stay with his sister in law and only niece for a while. At first he is rejected by his niece but, as it becomes obvious that he has a darker side, she is drawn more and more towards him. This Uncle Charlie is a psychotic killer, too – but this niece doesn’t mind – in fact, she prefers it that way.