Nick Frost’s horror comedy is moderately funny

It’s one of the most timeless settings in the horror pantheon: a group of unsuspecting travelers visit a remote and isolated community and become embroiled in a ritual that puts their lives in danger. From “The Wicker Man” to “Midsommar,” the folk horror subgenre has thrived by preying on our fears of disrupting a tradition we were never meant to take part in. The juxtaposition of ignorant tourism and seemingly backward folk religions creates the kind of cruel tensions that horror filmmakers love to exploit. Now Nick Frost wants to find out if the audience is ready to laugh about it.

Frost writes and stars in Get Away, a new horror comedy from director Steffen Haars that brings a dry, British sense of humor to the Pagan Ritual Gone Wrong genre. Frost is best known for his collaboration with Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg on the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, which includes Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. He clearly knows a thing or two about genre parodies. The film shares a lot in common with Shaun of the Dead, subverting and mocking tropes of the folk horror genre with the same aplomb with which Wright mocked zombie films. And while the precise classic rock needles and silly one-liners don’t seem quite as fresh as they did when “Shaun of the Dead” hit theaters 20 years ago, this breezy film feels like a competent side project that should have entertained everyone ever Still craving a Cornetto ice cream cone.

After a busy year, the Smith family desperately needs a vacation. Richard (Frost) is a thoroughly stupid father who struggles to cling to the last shred of respect he has from his bratty teenagers Sam (Sebastian Croft) and Jessie (Maisie Ayres). Things don’t go much better with his condescending wife Susan (Aisling Bea), who walks all over him and then pressures him into purity through couples therapy sessions fewer confrontational. The relentless grind of raising two moody adolescents has pushed the nuclear family to the limit, so they go on vacation in the hopes that some good old-fashioned Scandinavian pageantry will bring them back together.

Your destination is Svälta, a fictional island off the coast of Sweden that is best known for its beauty Karantanan annual stage production celebrating the time when its residents turned cannibalistic and ate the British soldiers who occupied their land. The elaborate piece features four actors dressed as stereotypical Englishmen who are blown up in a complicated fight choreography, drawing cheers from the locals. Of course, these four clueless Brits decide they just have to see something like this with their own eyes.

From the moment the Smiths set foot on Svälta, it becomes clear that they have chosen the wrong vacation spot. From a creepy AirBnB operator to an elderly theater director who allows actors to roam the city in macabre masks at all hours of the night, all residents give the impression that these cops-in-a-banana-pizza-shop are unwelcome are an addition to the annual celebrations. Since four Brits are killed at the end of the play and there are currently four Brits in the city, it is not hard to imagine the worst-case scenario.

Needless to say, the outcome isn’t nearly as predictable. The film’s very existence depends on a third-act twist that remains untouched, but it explains the clumsy pacing of the first two acts and makes for a bloody climax. “Get Away” works better on paper than as an intuitive entertainment experience Reason for existence The attempt to subvert expectations of folk horror sometimes feels more like an exercise in screenwriting class than a fully immersive world. But while the narrative is occasionally simplistic, the entire film is well executed on a technical level, and the final battle is full of cleverly blocked shots and nice practical effects that should moderately entertain horror lovers looking for 86 minutes of fun. It’s no Shaun of the Dead, but it might be a better use of your time than a 100th rewatch.

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Grade: B-

“Get Away,” an IFC Films release, opens in theaters on Friday, December 6th.