Review: Purgatory Road

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet

Purgatory Road

Produced and directed by Mark Savage
Delirium / Purgo Road / Unearthed Films / MVD Visual
98 minutes, 2017 / 2019
www.facebook.com/purgatoryroadmoviediary/  
www.unearthedfilms.com

www.mvdvisual.com

Many a year ago, I remember seeing a bumper sticker that read, “Oh, Lord, protect me from your believers.” While this is true, I also believe a more accurate way to phrase it might be “Oh Lord, protect me from your interpreters.”

These days there are a lot of strange readings of the Bible’s contents, including an “every word is truth” fanatical faction: think Westboro. Well the main character of this tale makes them look like wusses when it comes to raining God’s punishment on mere mortals.

Gary Cairns

The main focus for this story is Father Vincent (Gary Cairns), who believes in the literal word and work of punishment as described in the Old Testament. Calling himself a Roman Catholic priest, in fact he has been defrocked by the Church for his fanatical beliefs, fostered by a tragic series of events from his youth, which is shown in the prologue.

In other words, Vinnie is a psychotic serial killer feeling justified in his ways, like Dexter, as he delivers what he believes to be God’s punishment on the wicked: salvation through death, via gun, knife, whatever. Helping him reluctantly on his path is his younger brother (“family sticks together”), Michael (Luke Albright). He is relentlessly picked on by Vincent as not being as supportive as he would like, even as he aids in chopping up the multitude of bodies.

The two travel around a region of Mississippi called Safehaven, in a beat up old camper, which has been turned into a traveling “confessional”; and if the Padre does not believe you are repentant, it becomes a bit of an abattoir. Of course, Vincent does not recognize his own foibles, including that of lust.

Trista Robinson

Meanwhile, a sweet and squeaky voiced young thang named Mary Francis (Trista Robinson) is on a murder streak as she is also a psychotic serial killer in her own right. She picks up on the brothers’ vibe and manages to widdle her way into their lives and livelihood by joining the band of blood. She has no hesitation in ending life. She and Vincent couldn’t be more similar, not counting the religious differences (i.e., Mary has no problem diving head first into her own lust). And you know at some point this trio is going to explode into violence among itself through viciousness and double dealings. In that way, it does not disappoint.

The moral compass of nearly all the characters is askew, as they make their way through the mire of sin, truth and forgiveness, and lack thereof. With wicked good lighting and angles, this is solidly atmospheric and full of gothic horrors that would make Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) want to order a mint julip.

There is no shying away from the violent nature of the characters, nor their actions. It’s no surprise that it is released by Unearthed, because there are severed body parts a plenty, but without the surgical precision of body torture. That being said, there are some both physical and emotionally squeamish moments throughout, all handled beautifully by the great Marcus Koch and Cat Bernier Sowell (more on them later). To put it in another way, the film is sheer brutality from beginning to end, but the story keeps up with it. Never having been a fan of violence for violence sake, I like the story to bring the intensity, rather than the other way around. This one has both feet on the ground in that way, and it never lets up.

Luke Albright and Gary Cairns

The extras start with a commentary by Mark Savage and screenwriter Tom Parnell. Not only do they discuss shot by shot, but also go beyond into motivation of characters (in case the viewers have any question), and how they came up with the ideas. They also talk about what it was like to physically shoot the film.

Next is a 16-minute featurette called “The Grisly Art of Marcus Koch and Cat Bernier Sowell” which is a series of stills as make-up and special effects are applied. Cool stuff. After that is the 29-minute “The Actors Speak.” Essentially it’s the main three leads individually talking about how they got involved with the film, how good the story is, what their personal lives were like at the time, and so forth. The three are then edited into a precise swirl of actors (Cairns, then Robinson, followed by Albright, then Cairns, etc.). It’s a bit long, but most of them talk at a deeper emotional level than these things tend to be, so it was pretty interesting.

In a talk with the co-writer, “Tom Parnell: Beyond the Day Job,” Tom discusses how he is a lawyer in real life, but has a passion for both writing screenplays and acting (he plays a cameo role as a Sherriff here). He brings up how he got into the arts, and what he wants to bring to it. Good stuff at 9 minutes. Shot at a festival, the 20-minute “Purgatory Road Q & A” with the director and Cairns, then joined by other cast and crew. As is common with these things, the sound quality is not that great and it keeps going in and out. Of course, as the final extra, there are four Unearthed trailers, including for this film.

This is a top notch film that is full of thrills and terror that is palpable by the characters. The acting is solid, as is the writing and cinematography. It’s a perfect storm in a positive direction.