Loop Track

 For whatever reason, New Zealand can't seem to do straight horror. All the entries in the genre I've seen from them, from the gentle silliness of What We Do In The Shadows to the gleeful maximalist splatter of Deathgasm, have a mile-wide seam of humour of varying degrees of darkness running through them. It's almost as if Peter Jackson staked out a sort of national horror identity with Bad Taste.

 Loop Track doesn't quite buck the trend, but it's definitely the most deadpan of the lot. Thomas Sainsbury, who was so great in Wellington Paranormal, writes, directs and stars as Ian, a nebbish, pudgy middle-aged dude who embarks on a four-day circular hiking trip in the kiwi wilderness; The titular loop track.

 It's quickly apparent something is amiss as Ian goes to unreasonable lengths to avoid the other hikers on the track, almost seeming to go into a panic attack at the prospect of having to be around other people. As it transpires, the guy is just painfully shy and trying to get away from everything... which makes it all the funnier when Nicky (Hayden J. Weal), an overtly cheerful, extroverted outdoorsman, catches Ian and decides to take him under his wing.

 Soon poor solitude-seeking Ian is forced to travel with Nicky and a friendly couple (Kate Simmonds and Tawanda Manyimo) in a keenly observed spontaneous social circle, capturing very well how it feels to be socially trapped by people with good intentions.

 Ian doesn't seem to be a bad sort, but he's poor company: awkward, taciturn, introverted, somewhat depressing to be around - and deeply aware of all of this. As he treks the New Zealand backwoods, add one more item to the list: he starts thinking he sees a large shape following him, one that none of the other hikers can see. The ensuing paranoia leads to some difficulties with the rest of his newfound company.

 This is a film that fully earns the title of slow-burn; Its pacing is methodical, the humor wry and character-based, and it's not always clear if there ever is going to be a payoff. Not that it matters, because the characters are well-drawn and many of the situations are excruciatingly funny. You really start feeling for Ian, even when you might start to suspect he's a serial killer.

 To say it ends with a third act that shifts the genre to full-on survival horror feels a little bit like a betrayal, because until that point it's just as likely that the story might end with everyone arriving uneventfully at the trailhead. But no, it goes gloriously over the top in a swerve that I suspect will get many reasonable people angry at the film. Yes, it's stupid, but also of a piece with the film's wicked sense of humour, and it allows for a measure of manic no-budget mayhem that includes at least one very cool, pretty gory kill.

 Whether you think this last act jumps the shark or not, it's hard to deny it's a very well made film. Weal is hilarious as the overweening Nicky and Simmonds and Tawanda's easygoing chemistry is very believable, especially when it starts to get strained by Ian's shenanigans. Sainsbury handles his various jobs with confidence; The film's direction is deliberate and very effective, the script does a great job of ratcheting up the tension while keeping the characters fun, and the part he wrote for himself as Ian is unsparing and beautifully played - a sympathetic, relatable protagonist that can nonetheless can be a little too much even when... especially when he's opening up.