March 5, 2004

By Nathaniel Miller
Herald Arts & Entertainment Editor

Sonata by Boris Undorf

Don’t be fooled: This is a genuine horror flick, with a thick, malicious atmosphere. Who said low-budget indies couldn’t scare the living hell out of you? "Sonata" carries on in the economical tradition of "The Blair Witch Project," only without all the terrible improvised dialogue and snotty noses.

A girl lives in total seclusion in a fancy rural house, raised and home-schooled by her exceedingly creepy, fairy-tale-writing mother. Needless to say, she starts losing it.

It’s a study in the piece-meal disruption of routine, and how that corresponds with the steady unraveling of sanity. A non-horror flick might make this a tale of independence, but "Sonata" is all about madness.

Eventually, once you get past the supreme freakiness of a mask and a pair of sewn-together eyelids, the film starts to get formulaic. But much of it is original, so if you’re into this sort of thing, well ... you’re sick.