Privacy Policy » Danielle Deadwyler in Blumhouse Horror

The metaphors weigh heavily in the latest Blumhouse horror film, which relies more on subtle atmospherics than their usual offerings. The sort of thoughtful, measuredly-paced chiller that wouldn’t look out of place as a Twilight Zone episode — or, if it were amplified to bigger proportions, a Jordan Peele movie — The Woman in the Yard belies its disingenuously bland title with its considerable thematic ambitions. The film doesn’t fully live up to them, but it deserves credit for trying something different in an oversaturated, frequently exploitative genre.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra — who’s lately trafficked in such large-scale productions as Jungle Cruise, Black Adam and Carry-On — returns to his horror roots (House of Wax, Orphan) with this modestly budgeted effort. Set entirely at the sort of isolated rural farmhouse that Andrew Wyeth would have painted, it revolves around a family consisting of Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler, Till and The Piano Lesson), who’s still recovering from a devastating car accident that killed her husband David (Russell Hornsby), seen in flashbacks; 14-year-old son Taylor (Peyton Jackson), desperately trying to be the man of the house; and six-year-old daughter Annie (Estella Kahiha). The family has clearly fallen on hard times, with Ramona hobbling around on crutches, the house in disrepair and the electricity recently cut off.

Their situation becomes even more fraught with the sudden appearance of a mysterious woman (Okwui Okpokwasili, The Exorcist: Believer), clad entirely in black including the veil that covers her face, silently sitting in a chair at the end of their yard. Ordering her children to remain in the house, Ramona ventures out to approach the woman, who asks, “How did I get here?” But the woman’s apparent confusion doesn’t last long, as she suddenly announces, “Today’s the day, Ramona. You called and I came.”

Those looking to decipher the film’s rather ambiguous ending would do well to remember those words. In the meantime, the film’s tension ratchets up strongly as mysterious phenomena begin occurring — from the family dog going missing to the woman in black seeming to sit closer and closer to the house with every sighting to her surprising reaction when Taylor threatens her with a shotgun. It’s at this point that the movie begins devolving into familiar horror film tropes, including the obligatory jump scares and rapid-fire editing to induce shocks.

But those lapses don’t prevent The Woman in the Yard from being a cut above the usual mainstream horror, thanks to Collet-Serra’s stylish, mostly low-key direction; the handsome cinematography by Pawel Pogorzelski that proves that gorgeously sunny blue skies can be just as frightening as dark, rainy nights; and the excellent performances all around.

Deadwyler, who just keeps getting better and better, brings unexpected shadings to her character, who’s struggling with grief and often snaps harshly at her children despite her obvious love for them. Jackson and Kahiha are entirely believable as the youngsters trying to understand what’s going on and, unlike so many child actors, aren’t irritating in the slightest. And Okpokwasili has the sort of strikingly forbidding presence that should guarantee her steady work for years to come.

Some genre fans will be disappointed by the film’s slow-burn style and the cryptic nature of Sam Stefanak’s screenplay, including its twist ending that’s open to interpretation. But for anyone more interested in cerebral horror and less in watching arteries gushing and entrails popping out, The Woman in the Yard offers considerable rewards.