Reviewed by Jon Barton

After an impressive past Mike Storch grows up, and along comes his first feature length which fittingly mirrors the quality and clarity of his shorts. It's cathartic for us as an audience to see a film that makes the most of Storch's skills, and of course it won't harm his career or reputation either. Gnomes is a perfectly capable film in its own right.

However, for the first time in a while I find myself disappointed by a movie I have anticipated. Because Gnomes has no clear focus. It takes a long time to establish that this is a drama, consistently introducing us to scenes that crucially serve to articulate the human condition; the cinematic function of which is to offer us differing views on the characters and their own states of tension. Storch takes most of the first act (and a good deal of the second) to reinforce the drama before coming back to the real deal in the third. Up until now the Gnomes had been stressed in key moments. The lumberjack scene, which seems to pose only the disequilibrium, bypassing the consequence and indeed resolution entirely, is a homage to the much-loved 'unseen force' prologues so many horror movies have utilised, even if it is on a fairly unrelated note considering the drama follows in close succession to this sequence. The invisible cackles in the movie (which if had been non-diegetically mute save for environmental sfx) made for genuinely creepy viewing, and of course the token 'witness', the old man who serves to introduce us formally to the Gnomes' ideals and motivations, even if this scene is long-winded and unrealistic. Herein lies the episodes where the Gnomes are crucial to the narrative structure.

Naturally Storch is not only a master of good drama but also has a keen eye for suspense. The direction holds its own against Ramza's stereotypical and fairly pretentious scoring (the road scenes entering the forest are captivating), and this adds to the power of the drama. Unfortunately, this side of the genre hybrid is explored for just too long and as a result the climax of the movie, the penultimate showdown with the creatures before the dramatic resolution can come has confusing principles. Storch is unsure where to take the Gnomes themselves, which leaves you with a monster still unseen by the end of the movie, save for flashes or some uncomplicated action. Jurassic Park without the dinos, or speaking in broader horrific terms, Texas Chainsaw without Leatherface. Which to me seems like a cop-out. Investing in the characters is all well and good providing an ending sure of itself is present, and where to take these apparently grotesque and terrifying pygmies is palpable. Sadly, while Storch does his best (the ending, despite being tacked on, is able enough) the drama has been too closely emphasised for us to remember this is a movie about killer axe-wielding dwarves. And thus the horror drifts into self-parody. And Ramza's ridiculously pent-up score is 'safe' to say the least, ignoring subtlety in every sense.

All in all in my mind, Storch is a very talented director working with the wrong choice of hybrid. Drama's certainly his bag and he shines at key moments with horror as well. But the cross-over just doesn't seem to work. As a drama Gnomes is larger than life and challenging. As a horror Gnomes is confused and convoluted, lost in the very wilderness we were warned to avoid. For what it is, it's a good film. For what it tries to be, it sadly isn't.

6.5/10