There's something not quite right about people who live in the shadow of major airports. Well, that's what Stephen Sheil would have you believe in his feature debut, Mum and Dad and he should know, he grew up in a house situated right next to London's Heathrow airport.

Obviously the expereince left something of an impression on the man as the film is entirely set in an average suburban house located next to one of Heathrow's runways with somewhat less average occupants. It tells the story of Lena, a young Eastern European woman who, working as a cleaner at the airport, befriends a similarly aged female colleague who takes her home to meet the family one night. Before she knows it she is chained up, chemically muted and subjected to all manner of horrific tortures at the hands of the deplorable Mum and Dad (played by Miles and Benson respectively).

You could be forgiven for thinking that with this set-up you were in for yet another squalid and uninteresting torture movie but despite the prescence of these elements this film manages to rise above those dull and staid genre conventions. Much of this is down to the wonderful setting and the undercurrent of pitch black comedy that runs through it.

Despite Mum and Dad's more unsavoury habits (Mum has a penchant for cutting deep gashes into her 'children' while Dad is an outright monster with a fondness for mutilation and masturbating into meat) they do attempt to lead an ordinary life. They struggle as any family does, they all pitch in to help around the house and they value the importance of eatying meals together. The difference in this household is that hardcore pornography plays on the kitchen television during breakfast and Mum complains about the mess made by bloody human body parts being left in the sink.

Though this could easily have veered into farcical teritory, Sheil's assured direction and excellent performances by all the cast insure that the tone is always dark and very threatening. As Lena is put through her torturous induction into the family as one of their enforced adoptees she suffers a prolonged ordeal of terror and violence which is only rivalled by Marilyn Burn's character in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The comparisons with that film do not end there however and in many ways Mum and Dad could be seen as a direct transposing of that film into contemporary suburban England. This does not mean that this film should be included or classed as one of the all too many Texas Chainsaw Massacre clones out there however, it merely channels that film's tone and sense of utter unrelenting wrongness.

Although the basic concept is fairly straight forward the script is very well written and focuses on the characters and their relationships with each other rather than on forced plot points. Lena is far from your average horror victim and remains strong and definatly driven to escape despite the increasingly severe punishments she is meted out when her attempts fail. The two other 'adoptees', the duplictious Birdie and her silent bother, Elbie are also strong and distinct characters.

Birdie in particular (played by Ainsley Howard) is a memorably twisted creation, desperate to win the approval of her vile parents she is utterly conscienceless yet pitiful at the same time as she watches Lena's torture simultaneously revelling in the other girl's pain but jealous of her mother's attentions being on her.

Despite its obvious unsavouriness and darker than midnight tone Mum and Dad reminas a compelling watch throughout its runtime and as Lena's attempts to escape become progressively more urgent and desperate so does our identification with her. Unlike so many of its torturous stable mates this film does what they too often neglect to and draws us in to her terror, pain.

9/10