Since Glee concluded in 2015, I have been anxiously awaiting Chris Colfer’s return to film, considering he took a detour to be an acclaimed author with a best selling fantasy series. The Restoration at Grayson Manor gives Colfer a juicy, super bitchy role unlike anything he has tackled before. This queer dark comedy-tinged horror flick is truly one of a kind. Both for better and for worse, the oddity lives up to its name. Alice Krige plays opposite Colfer in a hyper stylized role that plays upon both performers’ greatest strengths. Driven by the chemistry between mother and son, The Restoration at Grayson Manor works only marginally due to that facet. Otherwise, it’s a hot mess of conflicting tones that seems afraid to embrace full camp.
Boyd (Colfer) has what you would call an extremely rocky relationship with his mother, Jacqueline (Krige), to put it mildly. He seems to do anything in his power to push her buttons. In the beginning, he seduces a man he takes back to the grandiose Grayson Manor. Boyd commits raunchy activities in his mom‘s wedding dress, waits for her to come home, then insists she will need to cut him out if she wants it back. Their storied history— and the real reason why he hates his mother so deeply— is one of the things that actually works best within the framework of this flimsy narrative.
In the throes of a serious restoration on the property, the place is swarmed with multiple construction workers and a flurry of activity. In the wildly crazed confrontation that launches us into the film at large, Boyd pushes his mother out of the way when a giant mirror crashes down from a higher story. What could have sliced her in half instead cuts off both of Boyd’s hands, instantly starting the movie with a burst of silly gore.
What follows is not nearly as silly or ridiculous as the initial set up would suggest. Boyd becomes bedridden, forced to coexist with Jacqueline as he recovers from his wounds. Rather than take him to a hospital, she has gone to great lengths to bring the hospital to him. This means a doctor is working on a specialty set of prosthetic hands that Boyd will somehow be able to fully control. These lifelike limbs are the impetus of the story, with the entire team attempting to build up Boyd’s psychic connection to the hands. It’s all silly, but never silly enough. The nuances lie in the ridiculous script from writer/director Glenn McQuaid, who has plenty of fun ideas without the necessary skills to fully embrace them.
While an undeniable pleasure to see Chris Colfer in his element here, one wishes the movie built around mother and son was much stronger. The horror angle is barely there, though the latter half takes obvious inspiration from Idle Hands and Wes Craven‘s New Nightmare. The secluded location rarely gets utilized to full effect. Hoping for something akin to The Rocky Horror Picture Show would be a mistake, as The Restoration at Grayson Manor never touches the greatness of that quirky indie delight.
With a misguided script and only a handful of genuinely great moments, this movie still manages to tickle the funny bone from time to time, courtesy of its preposterous dialogue. A queer romance at the core seems rather laughable when taken into the larger picture. The ending also does not seem to know how to actually end, and may frustrate more than anticipated. While there are decent performances and occasionally amusing dialogue, The Restoration at Grayson Manor feels unfinished and still under construction.
Embark upon The Restoration at Grayson Manor, rolling out the construction materials into theatres, beginning with a run at the Downtown Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse on 10/9, LA on 10/14, and other cities to follow. VOD comes out of storage on November 6th, and Shudder opens its gates on December 1st.
