Talk to Me is one of the more inventive horror movies in recent memory and will give you more than a few scares.

Borne from the minds of Australian online sensations, Danny and Michael Philippou (RackaRacka on YouTube), Talk to Me is refreshingly lean and brisk.

In the age of bloated films, where sub-standard fare can run well over two hours, a 90-minute thrill-ride that executes its premise is the perfect option for horror lovers.

The latest in a long lineage of ‘haunted object’ horrors, Talk to Me’s central evil is simple and not over explained.

Sure there are some thematic elements that run through the movie, but this is mostly pretty straightforward ‘kids find something haunted and get in over their head’ fare.

And that’s a good thing.

Modern horror was built on the margins of good sense, where unattended teens were left to the mercy of bad luck and worse people.

The enjoyment for fans of such movies came in how inventive and well executed the madness was.

Talk to Me is a great example of that – it starts off at breakneck speed and slowly teases out one thrill at a time before reaching its grand conclusion, with a couple of twists thrown in for good measure.

Mild spoilers to follow

The film follows a group of teenagers who stumble upon an evil object, an embalmed hand, in their home town of Adelaide.

By holding the hand and saying ‘talk to me’, the person opens a portal to the spirit world and is temporarily possessed by someone in spirit limbo.

The rules are simple: hold the hand, utter the words and release it within 90 seconds to ensure the spirits don’t hang around for longer than wanted.

Of course, things go awry as the teenagers egg each other on to try longer times in a bid to impress the group.

No good horror exists without poor decision making after all.

One of the teens is badly hurt while another sees the spirit world bleed into her own.

There are some genuinely terrifying and memorable sequences that follow, brought to life by excellent prop work and visual effects.

It is well worth the watch for lovers of the genre, but will likely be upsetting for those who are not.

Rated 18 for Violence, Language and Nudity.
3.5/5.

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