The disturbing Hounds of Love is not so much torture porn but distress voyeurism

REVIEW: Hounds of Love, the true story of two Australian serial killers, lets audiences’ imaginations fill in the gaps.

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HOUNDS OF LOVE

Two and a half stars

Director Ben Young

Starring Stephen Curry, Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummings

Rating MA15+

Running time 108 minutes

Verdict Disturbing — for all the wrong reasons

ABJECT terror, toxic self-loathing and malevolent misogyny are debut director Ben Young’s three main instruments in this nasty little chamber piece, inspired by real events.

Set in the summer of 1987, Hounds of Love tells the story of a dangerously dysfunctional couple that cruises Perth’s suburbs, preying on vulnerable teenage girls.

Young sets the tone with an ominous, slow-motion opening shot — Evelyn and John White (Emma Booth and Stephen Curry) observe a bunch of high school netballers with a languid intensity that makes the hairs on the back of one’s neck prickle.

When practice is over, they pull up beside one of the stragglers, offering her a ride home in the baking heat.

Emma Booth and Stephen Curry in a scene from the film.

John is the driving force in this small, domestic operation, but without Evelyn’s reassuring, facilitating presence, their quarry is unlikely to accept a lift.

Young doesn’t show his audience the explicit details of what happens next. Instead, he cuts to the clean-up.

Evelyn takes care of the sex toys, the bloodstained tissues and the stained sheets. John buries the body in a shallow bush grave.

Our imagination fills in the gaps.

Before long the Whites are out again.

Cruising the streets at night, they encounter a rebellious Vicky Maloney (Ashleigh Cummings), who has snuck out of her bedroom window after a row with her recently-separated mother (Susie Porter).

And from there, things get really ugly.

Ashleigh Cummings in a scene from the film Hounds of Love.

Hounds of Love is designed to grab folks’ attention — and it certainly does that.

Curry, an actor best known for his comedic performances, has clearly embraced the serial killer/rapist role as an opportunity to extend his dramatic range.

Booth is even better as his partner in crime, a complex, conflicted woman. It’s a raw and powerful performance that retains an element of sympathy despite the character’s horrendous actions.

Emma Booth and Stephen Curry are partners in despicable crimes.

Young is also well-served by the lean, especially mean crime drama. It’s a technically assured debut that sustains dramatic tension throughout.

But while the filmmaker has the “who, what, when and where” covered, he falters when it comes to the “why” (as in why is he telling us this story in the first place.)

Hounds of Love is lacking in emotional or psychological insight. Given the challenging nature of the subject matter, that feels a little off. You can’t call it torture porn, exactly, since the director cuts away from any graphic bits. Distress voyeurism, perhaps.

Hounds of Love is now showing (opens June 1.)