I can’t say that I’m up on my Greek mythology these days, but I can say that the concept of the Siren — bluntly, a half-human creature whose singing charms sailors and lulls them to sleep — might not exactly fit in with modern horror by itself. However, if tweaked in the right way and handled by competant individuals, could easily open the door to some cool possibilities. That seems to be the goal for British writer/director Jesse Peyronel in his debut. And tweak it he does. But maybe not in the way that horror fans will largely enjoy.

Leigh (Vinessa Shaw) is a forced recluse living in an isolated area in the woods. Her home is surrounded by security cameras and alarms to ward off intruders. Leigh isn’t paranoid, however. Leigh has a rare condition where she excretes a powerful pheromone that makes her irresistible to men, driving them crazy. To make ends meet, she draws her blood each month and sends it to a cosmetics company for use in their perfumes. Things change when a drifter named Guy (Robert Kazinsky) shows up one night during a storm. Guy turns out to have lost his sense of smell from an attack while in the army. The two begin to hit it off, but soon jealous wives, smitten suitors and a greedy cosmetics company come calling, throwing Leigh’s life into further disarray.

In keeping with the idea of mythological story, Peyronel’s command of the camera gives his film a fairy tale quality (really, these Greek mythologies are fairy tales). In particular, Leigh’s secluded forest home, with its Fall setting, the sun passing through the trees and the often misty areas really do feel like something out of fairy tale. Heck, when Leigh needs to venture out in order get her mail, she needs to dress herself in thick robes that conjure up more fairy tale images. Another attention to detail (and harkening back to the concept of a Siren) is when Leigh enounters a man named Carl (played by Ross Partridge) and his 13-year-old son. Because of her pheromones, Leigh is seen by the man and his son differently, as the idea is that they’re seeing Leigh as their ultimate fantasy woman in their own way. It might be confusing, but once it’s explained, you get what’s going on. It’s still a very neat idea.

Probably the best part of how Peyronel constructed this story is the way it can be presented at any point in time. It boils down to a shut-in who is forced to remain hidden because of who they are, until that certain someone comes along. Another plus is that instead of taking the sinister route with Leigh, or having her be the subject of objectification by violent means, Peyronel takes the story in a more romantic drama direction. Leigh longs to have a sense of normality, and never once wanted this “gift” that she’s been given. Men are constantly hounding her, and so she’s had to withdraw from society. Shaw’s performance helps to give Leigh depth, portraying her as someone who is weary of the constant hassle of lovestruck men, but also someone who is intelligent enough to use her gift to her advantage. As for the attempt at having a normal relationship, Kazinsky is charming as Guy, providing a humourous male lead that’s believable.

Siren is not without flaws, however. The biggest flaw is the decision to draw out both of the film’s subplots rather than focusing on one. While I give Peyronel credit for attempting to tackle both (and a more experienced director/writer could probably handle both), the decision to focus on both stretches the film out and drags down the central plot involving Guy and Leigh’s relationship. As a result, we’re left with a film that doesn’t exactly advance very far once its second half rolls around, and dilutes the tension. Also, in regards to the situation with Carl and his son, and why they see Leigh differently, we aren’t clued into just what’s going on until later on in the film. In general, we don’t get as much backstory up front as we need, namely Leigh’s past, and how she escaped from the clinic that she apparently was living in as a teen. Lastly, there’s sadly not much horror to be found in Siren. It’s more of a thriller that has a few mild scares. This isn’t the film’s fault, but it’s still annoying when a film is marketed as something that it’s not.

I can’t say that I’m disappointed in Siren, nor can I say that I wholeheartedly enjoyed it. I dug the idea of a newbie director trying to think outside the box and tweak an existing concept and adapt it into a film, but ultimately it just didn’t resonate as much as it should. The acting was good, and our protagonists were interesting, but the script needed polish, and dragged the story down with needless focus on subplots. It might’ve been a different story had the writing been tackled by itself instead of Peyronel doing double duty, but that’s me. It’s a fire-and-forget type of film that you’d watch once, but probably wouldn’t come back to it for a repeat viewing.