ELFIE HOPKINS/ ELFIE HOPKINS: CANNIBAL HUNTER

UK, 2012, 86 minutes, Colour.
Jaime Winstone, Aneurin Barnard, Rupert Evans, Kate Magowan, Will Payne, Kimberley Nixon, Ray Winstone.
Directed by Ryan Andrews.

Elfie Hopkins is something of a bizarre small film. It is a star vehicle for Ray Winstone’s daughter, Jaime, who serves as one of the producers – and has her father in a key role, especially for the climax of the film.

The subtitle gives the plot away.

Elfie lives in a small village, hangs out with her friend, the nerd, Dylan, Aneurin Barnard. With his glasses and black hair, he could pass for Harry Potter’s older brother! He has ambitions to go to the University, but seems stuck in the village, spending time with Elfie, doing drugs together.

They watch the seemingly charming family next door, there is some suspicions, especially with their having been missionaries and Papua New Guinea and setting up an exclusive travel agency, sending one of the families of the town on a special trip to Africa, but a revelation that they never got there, the finding of a child’s toy in the woods, and the realisation that the family were cannibals. There is another episode with a seductive young woman in the village, her encounter with the father of the family, his sending her on a trip and her death.

Elfie does some detective work, but when the deaths occur, Dylan seems implicated, and nobody believes Elfie’s stories. Which brings the plot to a rather bloody climax, and deaths all round.

Oddball and bizarre.

1. A story of detection, young adults and their lifestyle, hopes and ambitions, the encounter with neighbours, detective work, the revelation of the cannibalism?

2. The credibility of the plot, the characters – but with the touch of grim humour?

3. The British setting, the country town, homes, mansions? The butcher shop and other details? Homes and interiors? The woods? The musical score?

4. Elfie, her age, experience, the death of her mother, being brought up by her father, stepmother, the touch of resentment? Her friendship with Dylan? Their hanging out together? Taking drugs? The bond between the two? His being in love with her? Looking at the neighbours, the puzzle about the Gammons? The visit, the social, the gossip? Clashes between neighbours? The Gammons and their being in Papua New Guinea? Their travel plans? The couple going on the tour, driving away, Elfie watching? Suspicions?

5. The portrait of the Gammons, suave in manner, the touch of glamour, the two eccentric children? Arrival, Elfie and Dylan watching? Friendly, but the daughter and her room, girlish manner dress, flirtatious? The son, surly, with the arrows? The father and his charm, Elfie and her initially favourable response? The young girl, seductive, the father resisting, later meeting her, the suggestion about the trip?

6. The visit to the butcher, his good words about the family? His later turning up, the shooting, the final rescue?

7. The revelation that the family were cannibals, researching information, Papua New Guinea, cannibal traditions? The travel agency as a cover? Their finding the child’s toy in the woods, the suspicions? Seeing the family taking the body into the house? The bodies, the storage, cutting up, the meals, the head in the refrigerator?

8. The buildup to the confrontation, elderly and her stories, the police not believing? Given and his being taken, arrest?

9. The final confrontation, Elfie, the dangers, Dylan and his being freed? The role of the children, the pursuit, the arrows, their deaths? The mother? The father returning, the buildup to the drama, the butcher shooting him?

10. Dylan, his plans to go to the University, his father, stuck in the village, the detective work with Elfie, his being something of a nerd, computers, his contribution to solving the case?

11. Elfie, her character, family, manner – and her future?