Ruby, Ruby is an engaging horror story where the protagonists battle terror on two levels and hopefully the film gets the wide release that it deserves.
Written and directed by South Australian Ursula Dabrowsky, Ruby, Ruby is her 4th horror film following Family Demons in 2009, Inner Demon in 2015, and The Devil’s Work in 2023. Ruby, Ruby becomes a gripping horror story of two women battling terror both supernatural and human as it reimagines Kapunda ghost folklore.
The folklore is that in 1909 Kapunda girl Ruby Bland lived in a Catholic reformatory and was raped by a local priest then became pregnant to him. To cover this up, he attempted to perform an abortion during which Ruby died. She was buried in the Catholic cemetery and the reformatory closed down. Since then visitors have claimed to see a semi-transparent girl in the lonely cemetery desperately searching for her lost baby.
In Ruby, Ruby, best friends Ollie (Sarah Jeavons) and Hannah (Luca Asta Sardelis) are travelling to a music festival after Ollie ends her romantic relationship. On the way to the festival, Hannah takes them on a detour to an old cemetery to visit and pay their respects to the legend of Ruby. Travelling through the forest to get to the remote cemetery they get a flat tyre and while fixing the tyre a sinister looking man (Barrie Cotton) on a tractor stops by the woman and forcefully offers his help which they refuse. While driving to the cemetery, Hannah tells Ollie of the mythology of how to summon Ruby from her grave but promises not to do it.
When they arrive at the cemetery, Ollie feels a presence and later so does Hannah. Hannah for fun and the social media likes, summons Ruby after they find her grave and the two are then hunted by two frightening things, one paranormal and the other mortal.
Shot on location in the Kuipo Forest in just 3 weeks, Dabrowsky uses the forest very well to build the eeriness of the unfolding plot. The film is set entirely during the day, so forgoing the normal spookiness of darkness, Dabrowsky and Director of Photography David Gregan find enough light and shade in the forest shadows to build the unease. Dabrowsky’s story assembles suspense and anxiety as it moves along.
Sarah Jeavons and Luca Asta Sardelis both act very well and as the action develops Jeavons’ performance steps up to meet the challenges of the plot. Barrie Cotton’s performance delivers the exact amount of maniacal sinisterness.
Ruby, Ruby is an engaging horror story where the protagonists battle terror on two levels and hopefully the film gets the wide release that it deserves.
Ruby, Ruby premiered at this year’s Adelaide Film Festival.
More information about the Adelaide Film Festival is available here:
https://www.adelaidefilmfestival.org
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating 4 out of 5
Distributor: Monster Pictures Distribution Pty Ltd
Related
