Agoraphobia (2015)

(Online Screener Copy)

Written and Directed by Lou Simon

Stars: Cassie Scerbo, Tony Todd, Maria Olsen, Julie Kendall,  Adam Brudnicki, Aniela McGuinness, Mario Temes, Gema Celaro, Mario Nalini, Roberto Escobar


As a fan of Lou Simon's work in the horror genre (with the creepy The Awakened and grisly Hazmat under her talented belt) I was delighted to be asked to check out her most recent film Agoraphobia an impressive melding of mystery, suspense and the supernatural.

Featuring Cassie Scerbo as Faye, a young sufferer of Agoraphobia who, after inheriting her childhood home from her deceased father moves in on advice from her Psychiatrist (the one and only Tony Todd). This is all well and good until she realises bit by bit that nothing is as it seems.

Strange things are occurring in the house and it soon becomes clear to Faye that there are skeletons in the closet which need to be let out. The apparent evil stalking Faye also starts to reach out to those around her such as her husband Tom (Adam Brudnicki), best friend Stephanie  (Aniela McGuinness) and home carer Nina (Gema Calero) but in a series of well placed twists and turns, things turn on their head dramatically. In addition to all of this Cassie has the vindictive and bitter fiance (Julie Kendall) of her father baying for her blood and claiming that the house should have been hers. All elements of the story are important to the overall picture so this is a film that you want to pay close attention to - this is quite easily done as it does a great job of keeping you intrigued and interested throughout.

I was impressed by the performances, particularly Cassie who plays the fragile and haunted Faye with refreshing ease. I found myself drawn to the character and sympathised with her plight, suffering from such a crippling illness as well as trying to unlock some pretty dark and dangerous secrets. The main supporting cast were all effective in their roles; Adam Brudnicki and Aniela McGuinness as Fayes husband and best friend, Maria Olsen as her boozy aunt and Gema Calero as the newly appointed home help. I also got a great kick out of Julie Kendall as the gold digger from hell Elizabeth and kind of wished she was on screen a bit more. Still there is a GREAT pay off with this character and I will say no more.

The film is shot to the highest standard, something that Lou Simon and her team always excell at and really set the bar high for independent cinema. What they do with a limited budge is just amazing so I  can only imagine what would come out of a project with really big bucks. That said I am really enjoying the current journey of Lou Simon and seeing each and every film just get better and better.

I have just this morning read news of a pretty wide distribution deal for this film which is wonderful! Read more about this via the official movie Facebook page - it looks like you will be getting to see this real soon!