‘Three Blind Mice’ Review: A Satisfying Tooth-and-Nail Fight for Survival
Chloé Harper Gold
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Three blind mice, three blind mice.
See how they run, see how they run…
College student Abi has been struggling with a pill addiction. After she survives an overdose, her parents, brother, and best friend stage an intervention. Abi begrudgingly agrees to give sobriety a shot. Accompanied by an addiction specialist, they all take a trip to a remote cabin in the woods where Abi can quit cold turkey away from the distractions of the city (and away from her dealers).
They do run into one distraction, though. Actually three: a trio of mutant mouse-human hybrids who are hellbent on torturing, mutilating, and killing them. Suddenly, Abi’s fight for her life swings from mundane to bizarre and horrifying.
Three Blind Mice, written by David Malcolm and directed by Pierre B, takes a classic nursery rhyme and twists it into a tale of violent depravity. Not a hard task, considering how the original “Three Blind Mice” poem goes. Still, the film manages to be fresh and entertaining.
The premise is an oft-employed one: a group goes to a cabin in the woods to disconnect for a weekend, they run into trouble, and some don’t make it out alive. It’s formulaic, but that’s not a detriment. There’s a reason why “cabin in the woods” films are so popular: we like them and so we keep coming back to them. Much like the nursery rhymes and fairy tales that have survived throughout countless generations, we find comfort in familiarity. Even (or especially) when the familiar is dark and creepy.
We get a quick backstory on the mice-people, but we don’t dwell on it. We don’t need to. The story isn’t really about them—it’s about Abi. The backstory is interesting though, and could be seen as a commentary on unethical scientific research practices. It’s a discussion worth having, but luckily the film doesn’t get preachy about it.
Beyond a tragic origin story, there’s something else noteworthy about these mice-people: their design. The titular villains are hideous and nightmare-inducing—exactly what you hope to see in a monster movie. Prosthetics supervisor Rebecca Wheeler absolutely nailed it. She was also the prosthetics designer for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey! In addition to the excellent creature design, Three Blind Mice features visually interesting and fairly realistic gore and viscera.
May Kelly stars as Abi, delivering a raw and believable performance. She shares the screen with Lila Lasso (with whom she also co-starred in Mary Had a Little Lamb) as her BFF Lara, Karl Hughes as her brother Mark, Lynne O’Sullivan and Keith Eyles playing her parents Jude and Keith, and Helen Fullerton as addiction specialist Cara. Samantha Cull, Julia Quayle, and Danielle Ronald bring the mutant mice-people to life in a disturbing yet oddly playful way. Their roles are credited as Sniff, Scratch, and Squealer, respectively. Rounding out the cast are Natasha Tosini, Marcus Massey, and Arrabella-Rose Anne Kemp.
Three Blind Mice can best be described as a straightforward and unpretentious creature feature supported by a cohesive and talented cast, creative kills, and solid SFX. If you’re in the mood to watch unsuspecting characters fight tooth and nail against…well…other sets of teeth and nails, this might be the fix you crave.
Three Blind Mice is now available on VOD and DVD.
Summary
Three Blind Mice can best be described as a straightforward and unpretentious creature feature supported by a cohesive and talented cast, creative kills, and solid SFX.
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