Cure for Wellness, A

Stars: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Adrian Schiller, Celia Imrie, Ivo Nandi, Harry Groener, Carl Lumbly, Ashok Mandanna

Director: Gore Verbinski

One part Polanski, one part Lindsay Anderson, and one part pure Hammer horror, this gargantuan Gorefest is also 100 per cent codswallop - although, given the film's content, eelswallop might be a better description.

There's a mad scientist, a spooky castle, a collection of grotesques, a hint of vampirism and the inevitable conflagration at the climax - what more could any horror aficionado want? Well, a shorter runtime for starters: the Hammer boys would have the story told in little more than half the time. We could also do without a script that thinks it's good, but contains a corpse-strewn chuckle at every corner.

Verbinski treats it like a stylish masterpiece, even though he - and co-scriper Justin Haythe - are stealing from a dozen different derivatives.

A manic staff ball at the end is nicely staged, but even this is a crib from Polanski's Dance of the Vampires.

David Quinlan

Germany/USA 2017. UK Distributor: 20th Century Fox. Colour (unspecified).
140 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 18.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 2, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 20 Jul 2017

DVD review