Heartless is a British movie. Set in the poverty ridden high rises of East London, (a place I lived myself for several years) a young man and photographer, Jamie, lives with a large, heart-shaped birthmark on one side of his face. He's a troubled young man, traumatised by his disfigurement and by the loss of his much loved father.
Jamie discovers that the gangs rioting the local area are actually demons. But their leader offers him a choice; join them and help continue the chaos, and he will remove the birthmark and get to live the life he has always wanted. Accompanying Jamie on his journey is a young Indian girl, who helps him through his emotional struggles, but in doing so also enables him to commit crimes he never would have thought himself capable of.
Overall, I enjoyed Heartless. The movie had an edge to it, a rawness I found totally believable. The horror comes in a number of different forms: that of the very real horror of street gangs and violence, to a paranormal horror, to a psychological horror of someone having to live with a deformity.
Some parts were shocking; the idea of living in agony and torture for the rest of eternity should be shocking! There were also some great scenes. The one where he is basically burnt alive and wakes up as a crusted, even more deformed creature is fantastic.
The young Indian girl was always strange and I don't think the movie really benefited from her presence. She acts as his 'conscience' though she always tells him the bad things to do.
Surprisingly, I did like the ending. It had some nice sentiments and ideas, and even though I don't normally like endings of this kind (I won't say what for fear of spoiling it!) it was good to have a little release after all the misery and horror!
Heartless is dark and thought provoking. It's probably not the best horror movie I've ever seen, but it's certainly worth a watch!
Something Wicked 7/10.
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