‘Brooklyn 45’ Review: Claustrophobically Intense Period Horror Showcases Excellent Performances

variety.com:

Joe Leydon Film Critic With a tip of the hat to Agatha Christie and a nod toward “Twelve Angry Men,” writer-director Ted Geoghegan (“Mohawk”) skillfully sustains suspense and showcases a strong cast in “Brooklyn 45,” a supernatural-themed chamber drama about a small group of World War II vets entangled in a séance where visits from the restless departed are hardly the worst threat to participants.

Set for a June 9 premiere on the Shudder streaming service after a sprint on the festival circuit, the film impresses as a well-crafted period piece with some pointed observations about paranoia and xenophobia that feel, discomfortingly, as relevant as recent news reports about over-reactions by stand-your-ground shooters.

It’s a cold December evening in 1945 when Lt. Col. Clive “Hock” Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden) summons to his Park Slope, Brooklyn brownstone four friends whose lives, like his, have been drastically affected by their recent wartime experiences: Marla Sheridan (Anne Ramsay), a former Army interrogator with formidable powers of persuasion; her husband Bob (Ron E.

Rains), who clearly loves his wife but just as clearly prefers not to talk about her enhanced interrogation techniques; Maj.