In a beautiful yet sinister village, a mysterious woman with spooky powers arrives to investigate her sister's death. This development perturbs the local business community, who are responsible for the killing, having hired an assassin called Shark to carry out the deed. He is not called Shark because he can smell blood, but because he can smell fear. He reveals this peculiar trait, then walks off, cackling. It's that kind of film—Daggers Inn is muddled, but landmark cinema in certain respects.
A UK Rival to The Room
Finally, the United Kingdom has produced a film that could rival the 2003 US indie cult phenomenon, The Room, which still plays to packed houses with audiences eternally thrilled by its hilarious creative choices and uneven performances. Daggers Inn is similarly ripe for cult status, not in the calculatedly trashy manner of a Sharknado film, but in the sense of amateurs' original, sincere, yet almost entirely unsuccessful efforts.
Production Peculiarities and Hilarious Choices
There is a weird fascination to watching Daggers Inn play out, due to various production peculiarities. These include several strangely blocked scenes in which actors essay entire dialogue exchanges while standing next to one another, looking vaguely in the same direction rather than at each other. The dialogue veers between an imagining of how businesspeople might talk and lines intended as savage zingers.
One highlight of the film features a character delivering the memorable line: "You should take that dried up old vagina of yours and go to work on Stanley over there 'cos I know you're fucking him." Another standout moment is a funny fight to the death during which a character is lightly waltzed into the side of a tree, killing them instantly.
Lack of Momentum and Self-Awareness
Daggers Inn is not action-packed, nor is it intriguing as a mystery, and there's no real momentum to the plot. Approximately one hour into the film, a character exclaims: "This keeps happening. It needs to end now." This line serves as a meta-commentary on the film's own repetitive and aimless nature, adding to its so-bad-it's-almost-good charm.
Despite its flaws, Daggers Inn offers a unique viewing experience that could resonate with fans of cult cinema. The film's amateurish qualities, from the awkward blocking to the uneven performances, contribute to its potential for achieving a dedicated following, much like The Room.
Daggers Inn is available on digital platforms from 23 March, providing audiences with the opportunity to witness this bizarre and entertaining fright-flick for themselves.
