Isolation (2005)
Directed by Billy O’Brien

It may seem tacky, but I always try to watch an Irish horror movie or two around St. Patrick’s Day. Preferably, one I haven’t seen before, because even though Leprechaun Back To Tha Hood is an underappreciated gem, I sometimes want to try and broaden my horizons, and whether the end result is a success or failure, I’m happy to try something new. Today’s movie, from the Irish-est ever director Billy O’Brien, was the best Irish horror I’ve seen since Grabbers (which is a really fun movie and you should watch it) and a great way to get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit! Time to get into what makes the film Isolation so good!

Okay Fine The Story Isn’t Super Original

On a remote farm in rural Ireland, desperate farmer Dan accepts an offer from a genetic engineering firm to experiment on one of his cows, with the help of a veterinarian who has a history with Dan. Hoping for the best, Dan allows this to happen to turn around a failing farm that’s been in his family for generations. Unaware of this, a pair of down-on-their-luck travelers take residence just off Dan’s property, looking to lay low after some shady dealings have them on the run. As the experiment progresses, it quickly becomes apparent that the geneticists didn’t quite have as firm of a grasp on this as they would have liked.

But It Is A Bold Take On Cow-Based Horror

Without seeing the movie, this all sounds like it would be goofy. A mutant cow monster? That’s a joke! At best it’s a tribute to B monster movies from the 50s, at worst a grave misunderstanding as to what ideas work well together and translate well to cinema. But something surprising happened here. Isolation turned out to be a 100% serious take on what the horrors of genetic experimentation on dairy cows could be. And, somehow someway, it’s a pretty damn good movie!

Wow Does This Get Gross In Fun Ways!

If it wasn’t clear from the experimenting on farm animals plotline then let me explain in no uncertain terms that Isolation is a graphic and disturbing body horror film. I won’t explain what the body horror elements are exactly or how it looks because of spoiler reasons, but I’ll talk a bit about them and why this is an underrated gem of the body horror genre. The reason is very basic, and it’s the same reason why so much of Isolation works so well, this reason being that O’Brien followed one of the most important tenets of lower-budget filmmaking: keep it simple. There is no huge overdesigned CGI monster here, no complex creature with a silly backstory, the monster is streamlined, easy to understand, and absolutely revolting.

This same approach applies to nearly every other part of the film, where most everything is kept as simple and straightforward as possible. This is an almost entirely one location film, there’s a handful of characters, everyone’s backstory could be described in approximately one sentence. In the wrong hands, this could lead to a dull and underdeveloped world where we linger in all the wrong places and the story inches forward. Fortunately, we don’t have that problem here. There’s an immediacy to every problem, and there are many of those that pop up, which helps keep the pace moving at a decent clip while the story develops.

Enough World-Building Here To Work With

And even though the story is rather simple, it isn’t shallow. Everyone has a history, everyone has struggles, and everyone has a future they’re trying desperately to bring about. We know more than enough for everyone to have a compelling character who we care about during the horrific events that follow. It helps that everyone’s performances are natural and understated, with a special shout-out for the incomparable Ruth Negga. There’s only one performance I wouldn’t call great, but even then it’s more a case of passable acting as opposed to plain bad.

Beautiful Aesthetic of Rural Despair

I’ve already mentioned how visually good the body horror elements of Isolation are, so let me step back and talk about how the film looks generally because I am super into it. Dan’s farm has a classic rural despair aesthetic, where everything is old, worn, broken/breaking, and is generally a mess. It is such a perfect location to have a horror movie if only for the intense desperation that every second being there makes you feel. Yo don’t just hear about people being down on their luck, you see it and feel it and want things to get better so it all makes sense when people make silly decisions that probably won’t work. It’s pretty neat visual storytelling and reminiscent of the look of classic rural horror fare like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

A Hidden Gem That You Should Watch!

There’s appealing brevity to the storytelling, most characters are archetypes but there isn’t anything wrong with that, especially when those archetypes are well thought out and presented as real people in bad situations. I know I’ve been a bit brief on descriptions of the scares themselves, but please trust me when I tell you how frightening and unnerving they are, real grade-A body horror that has shockingly eluded me. Simple stories well told will always have a special place in my heart and Isolation is the dictionary definition of that, with the bonus, of course, being that I watched it during this whole quarantine thing…and the word quarantine is even said during the movie so it is topical too! If you’re in the mood for an Irish horror give Isolation a try! Also, if you are looking for something lighter, watch I Am Not A Serial Killer by the same director, it’s pretty good too!