Unwelcome is a 2022 British home invasion horror film about a young couple fending off a gang of malevolent goblins. Previously known as The Little People.
Directed by Jon Wright (Robot Overlords; Grabbers; Tormented) from a screenplay written with Mark Stay. Produced by Piers Tempest and Peter Touche.
The Tempo Productions-Cornerstone Films-Ingenious Media movie stars Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man And The Wasp), Niamh Cusack, Douglas Booth, Colm Meaney and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell.
The prosthetics by handled Shaune Harrison (Harry Potter films, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Avengers: Age of Ultron while the creature designs were created by Paul Catling (Maleficent; Thor; Fantastic Beasts).
Plot:
Londoners Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and Jamie (Douglas Booth) escape their urban nightmare to the tranquillity of rural Ireland only to discover malevolent, murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden.
When heavily pregnant Maya’s relationship with a local family turns sour, who – or what – will come to her rescue and what extremes will she go to to protect her unborn child?
Release:
Well Go USA Entertainment will release Unwelcome theatrically in select locations across North America (US and Canada) on March 8, 2023, as an AMC ‘Thrills and Chills’ exclusive, followed by a Premium-Video-on-Demand (PVOD) release on March 14, 2023.
Reviews:
“This movie is very much one that pulls all the stops out in the last part of the movie and as I mentioned earlier it is worth the wait, the ending of the film does go all sorts of crazy to bring it to a conclusion, but strangely enough, it works. I enjoyed the cast in the movie and the cinematography is very nicely done…” Blazing Minds
“Unwelcome starts by unsettling the viewer, and it never lets up. An intensely claustrophobic movie that uses the isolation and dissociation of being an outsider in a closed community to significant effect; there is always a sense of unease and danger bubbling under the surface until it explodes for the fantastic finale where Maya comes into her own and becomes the mother of all heroines.” Ginger Nuts of Horror
“According to received genre wisdom, it’s always scarier not to see the monster, but Unwelcome eschews tasteful ambiguity in favour of polyfoam beasties that could have scuttled straight off the set of a lost Jim Henson classic. This is Straw Dogs by way of Fraggle Rock, essentially; but the script by Wright and Mark Stay weaves in enough anxieties, both contemporary and primal, to sustain suspense even amid the silliness.” 3 out of 5, The Guardian
“The film’s final frame will no doubt divide its audience, but I have to commend Wright for sticking to his vision. If anything, the title is a bit of a misnomer — I never once felt Unwelcome as the waves of throwback-monster-movie familiarity washed over me, blended wonderfully with Irish folklore.” 4 out of 5, Josh at the Movies
” …Unwelcome is undone simply in its lack of focus, the whole thing not really coming together until the climactic set-piece and making you wait far too long for that to happen before paying off with an ending that is likely to leave the vast majority of audiences unsatisfied. If you’re a really big fan of practical FX ‘80s horror, the superb puppet work ensures there’s probably enough here for you to enjoy…” 2 out of 5, We Love Movies
“It wouldn’t be fair to say this is a film without merit, and to horror movie aficionados, especially those who like novelty and prosthetic effects over modern CGI, there is something here. For everyone else, this will just feel like a frustrating and messy waste of both your time and the promise of a genuinely good opening scene.” 2 out of 5, The Wee Review
YouTube reviews:
Trailer:
Clip:
Background:
Although the vicious Little People are being described as goblins they are actually based on local faeries known as “far darrig” which director Jon Wright explains are “related to gnomes and leprechauns, but are sort of like the black sheep of the family.”
Touted as ‘Gremlins meets Straw Dogs‘, the creature feature movie uses prosthetic effects rather than CGI. Five-foot actors wearing masks (created by Harry Potter FX wizard Shaune Harrison) will be filmed in a giant set to make them appear small. VFX will then be used to animate the mini monsters in post-production.
Jon Wright elaborates: “When I look back at these old creature features, you don’t really believe that the things are real. They’re great movies, but the effects definitely haven’t stood the test of time. And when I see the modern CG versions of goblins or elves or whatever, I don’t quite believe them either.”
Another element that Wright and co-writer Mark Stay have considered in detail is the methods by which the murderous Little People are offed. “We basically wrote a shopping list of death,” he explained, adding that they went around a house thinking of how everyday items could be used to kill two-foot-tall evil creatures. Laughing, he says: “And you’ll be amazed. I mean, you never see a deck chair as a murder weapon.”
Cast and characters:
Hannah John-Kamen … Maya
Niamh Cusack … Maeve
Douglas Booth … Jamie
Colm Meaney … Whelan
Jamie-Lee O’Donnell
Kristian Nairn
Rick Warden … Redcap Chief
Chris Walley
Bradley Turner …
Notes:
We originally posted about Unwelcome on June 24, 2020, when it was known as The Little People.
