The problem with many horror movies is that they don’t quite know what they want to be. It’s like the writer has a great idea, and either they decide to throw an unnecessary twist into the plot or part way through writing it they come up with what they believe is something cool they just want to add into the story. While this style of writing can, and does work, it can be tough to pull off in a convincing manner. Without spoiling anything, Starve Acre runs into that problem.  It just can’t decide what type of horror movie it wants to be.

Starve Acre follows the story of married couple Richard (Matt Smith, House of Dragon) and Juliette (Morfydd Clark, Saint Maud) in 1970s England. The coupke move to Richard’s childhood home in rural Yorkshire after the death of his father. After the move, their son Owen (newcomer Arthur Shaw) starts to act a little odd. Other children are frightened of him. And he claims he’s been hearing things, including the name “Jack Grey” whispered to him. After a visit to their doctor reveals no answer, their son suddenly collapses and dies. This leaves the married couple to deal with their grief in different ways.  Juliette starts digging into supernatural explanations. Meanwhile, Richard buries himself in his work and the excavation of the property he inherited. While their directions are different, they both slowly descend into madness.

For starters, Starve Acre is a moody, grey film that has a lot going for it. Smith and Clark both play their roles exceptionally well, which makes it easy for viewers to grasp what they are going through. The cinematography is bleak and grey, which fits the story that it’s telling as well. Even though the pacing of the film is a bit of a slow burn, it still works. Not all horror films needs to be scare-a-minute thrill rides after all. The problem with Starve Acre however is that it doesn’t know what type of horror film it wants to be.

There’s no doubt that Starve Acre is a folk horror film, after all it hits all the right beats and tropes to help define it as such. The film loses its way though trying to figure out if it wants to be a psychological horror or a supernatural horror. It walks a fine line trying to avoid defining it as either for most of the film, which means that it will disappoint some people when it finally does pick a side. It has the feeling of both for most of the film, which is almost impossible to pull off successfully. As I say this, Starve Acre isn’t a bad film, it’s just not as good as it could be.

With good performances and an eerie feel throughout, Starve Acre will give many people the scare they are looking for. In the end however, it might just not be the type of scare they thought they were going to get. It needed to pick a path and stick with it, instead of walking down the middle as long as it did.