Director: Jesse Peyronel
Starring: Vinessa Shaw, Robert Kazinsky
Review: There’s something familiar yet distinct about about ‘Siren’.’Leigh’ (Shaw) was born with an over-abundance of pheromones, to the extent that any man who smells her imagines her to be his perfect woman and falls in love with her. This leads to assorted problems involving stalking, threats and physical attacks when their romantic overtures are rejected. After an issue with a particularly amorous neighbour, Leigh meets ‘Guy’, a man who has lost his sense of smell and is therefore unaffected by her pheromones. One thing leads to another and she invites him to stay with her so help with different projects around her large, rambling house. The story of ‘boy meets girl’ followed by betrayal, confrontation and ultimately forgiveness and reconciliation has been told countless times and this movie does little to add anything new to this trope.Â
Released the same year which saw Kazinsky in ‘Pacific Rim’ it has been overlooked which is a shame as it does have its charm and makes a very intimate counter to the large and brash Pacific Rim. Shaw plays the lonely Leigh, desperate for human contact but fearful of the effects her pheromones have on others, with delicacy but perhaps a little too much meet woman-in-need-of-rescuing for my tastes. I would have hoped after a lifetime of dealing with unwanted attention from men she would have learned something better than whimpering when they meet her. The rest of the cast put in a rather standard performance.
Directer Peyronel uses the house and sets well with everything bathed in hues of yellows and gold until the scenes featuring Leigh either extracting her pheromones or the climax which worked well and I liked the subtle use of music. They elevate an otherwise standard movie.
It seems strange to recommend a film which in many ways is so standard but I’ve fallen under the Siren spell and I’m sure you will too.