“This isn’t the front line…this is Park Slope.”

Genre: Post-WWII Harkback Horror
Release Date: 2023
Where I Watched: Shudder

Gist: It’s December 27th, 1945, and Mrs. Susie Hockstatter un-alived herself a month before. Her husband Clive can’t take the loss. So he gathers his wartime friends together for a seance. They’re definitely not up for it, but seeing a heartbroken Clive, they all agree to it. But maybe saying “give us a sign, anything” wasn’t exactly the best thing to say. Hey, what was that knocking in the walls? Open them spirt doors wide as hell, y’all!

Gotta say: An intriguing mix of 12 Angry Men and Gothic, with a horrific twist on The Best Years of Our Lives, 45 is the kind of horror movie I didn’t think I could find easily nowadays. One that cobbles together well-loved ideas, but turns them into something truly interesting. This film is an incredible look at post-war paranoia, and how it can destroy people. And, y’know, ghosts and shit. As a kid who used to be called Japanese slurs when I was in school? I know there are a lot of people who don’t want to let go of hate. And damn if 45 doesn’t lay the past at our messed up modern day feet. Look at this beautiful film, and despair. Because the more things change, the more they stay the same. They just pick other marginalized groups. Yay.

Director Ted Geoghegan had my attention with his incredible We Are Still Here back in 2015, and I’m happy to say that he’s still got a lot of interesting ideas rattling around in his thought pocket. There’s definitely that strange hollow feeling of emptiness and despair that really make Here and 45 hit you right in the gut. The cast is a Who’s Who of talented character actors, breathing life into the one-room horror. Initially lead by a clean cut, barely recognizable without his scruff, Larry Fessenden as Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter, the man who gathers his war compatriots together at his house. This is probably Fessenden’s best performance to date, and that’s saying something.

Anne Ramsay (The Taking of Deborah Logan) eerily calm wartime interrogator is a layered character that Ramsay digs into. Longing to leave the horrors of war (and the horrors of what she’d done during the war) behind her, Ramsay’s Marla Sheridan married a low-key “beta male” whom she adores. The interplay between Ron E. Rans’ Bob Sheridan and her “Alpha” wartime cohorts – especially Ezra Buzzington’s incredibly unyielding Paul DiFranco (the only cohort who came to the party in dress greens) adds a layer of tension to the horrific goings-on. Special shout-out to Jeremy Holm as openly gay Agency man Archie Stanton, who both eases the tension by attacking Paul, and has a way of playing Devil’s Advocate that’s understandable based on his wartime life.

The true horror in 45 isn’t really the séance or the ghosts. It’s that they’re trapped in a hell of their own making. With less than four months of post-wartime civilian life under their belts, each character is trying to live their best life, whatever that means to them. But when Clive brings them together, and introduces a German lady (“AMERICAN“) locked up in the closet. Do they kill her? Why are they even going there? As the night goes on, secrets are revealed, hate becomes manifest, and old rivalries are dusted off. And it’s deliciously dark. And yeah, I’m gonna give a second shout-out to Kristina Klebe for her incredible performance as Hildegard Baumann, the woman who gets a whole lot of abuse from the wartime gang. Klebe could have made this a parody by overacting, but her Hilde has, well, exactly the kind of reactions any sane person would have when faced with a situation that could turn violent at any moment.

But. Then there’s the ending. Well, we can’t have everything, can we? 45 is a damn near perfect film that completely whiffs the finale. It’s easy to overlook at first, as the cast is so damn talented they cover a multitude of plotting sins. But it’s soon very obvious that the creators had no idea how to wrap things up. There were so many things that could have happened to the characters, and yet the character that drives the climax, and how that character does so, was a total WTF moment. I was immediately pulled out of the story by the sheer audacity of pulling such a lazy, uninteresting move so late in this otherwise absorbing story.

This premise, and the cast, deserved a better finale. But I still highly recommend 45; the premise, and performers, are well worth the time. Hey, the last ten minutes doesn’t mean the first hour and twenty aren’t top-notch. Okay Geoghegan. Ball’s in your court. What ya got for me next?

Come for: The intriguing premise, and a peek at pre-gentrified Brooklyn.
Stay for: The incredible performances, and the (sadly) still topical themes of xenophobia, toxic masculinity, and jingoism.