June 14

Boy, John Lithgow can be creepy.

The second film in the June Swoon today is The Rule of Jenny Pen from Shudder and it is a psychological thriller set in a care home.

According to IMDB, “Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child’s puppet to abuse the home’s residents with deadly consequences.”

John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush are both excellent in this film. Lithgow is absolutely terrifying as the abusive resident with the hand puppet named Jenny Pen. Rush started off as an unlikable character, but his torment at the hands of Lithgow really humanized him, and made him someone you wanted to root for.

The setting of the care home was a really effective one, building the sadness and loneliness of the situation into the horrors of what was happening. The angles of shots and the way the camera moves adds to the anxiety of the scenes.

The lead performances of this movie really bring this New Zealand film to its high points, and the psychological horror works because it is so beleivable.

4 stars