Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet
Tabernacle 101
Directed by Colm O’Murchu
International Film Base / Indie Rights
98 minutes, 2019
There is an increasing level of
religious fanaticism in the world. No matter what the religion, the belief is
that if one doesn’t believe what they do, they are considered Others (outsiders)
who deserve at most death, at least to be kicked out of the country. The US,
Canada, and most of the Middle East are all either run by hyper-religious
characters or they are in the serious running. And that is scary as fuck to me,
as someone who does not hold religion in any realistic regard.
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| David Hov |
That disbelief is what drives our main
protagonist, Frank (David Hov). He and his pal / cameraman Clint (Leon Kowalski)
run an atheist vlog debunking psychics, ghosts, and yes, God. This includes the
wonderfully angular-toned Meredith (Mikaela Franco), whose look seems to be based on Diamanda Galas, and displays some real
knowledge, but she has a warning for our hero about the following: Frank’s
scientist girlfriend and co-atheist vlogger, Sarah (the lovely Elly Clapin), is
experimenting on ending death. Of course, Frank wants to experience the process
to prove there is no God, and Meredith cautions him to ixnay to the
xperimentnay. Sarah also puts the kibosh on it. But, as in real life, men just
don’t listen to women who are wiser than them.
So of course, it’s Halloween night that
the reluctant Sarah puts Frank through the Flatliners (1990) type of
experiment in front of the vlog camera and crew during a live broadcast. You
know it’s not going to end well in the long run obviously, or there would be no
film. When Frank is in the astral plane, it starts a competition for his –
well, let’s say soul – between the light and the dark forces that will have
worldwide implications. And that’s as far as the story as I’m willing to tell.
 |
| Mikaela Franco |
There is a nice strong plot at the
base of the events with some weirdness and Harry Potter type stuff floating
about it, obviously wanting this to be a franchise, or possibly a television
series. It definitely has its moments of darkness, but the upbeat electronic
music and positive mysticism that seems to start out with the healing powers of
Resurrection (1980) and goes off into the X-Men level of strengths, such
as telekinesis, projection, and others.
Despite butting heads, you know Frank
and Meredith are going to join forces (figured that out about 20 seconds into
their first meeting) to fight the – err – forces of evil, but the big question is
(and I will not answer it, you’ll have to see it) will they succeed? Meredith, we
learn, has a bit more up her sleeve than we know at the onset when they are on
opposite sides. But even as allies, try to get the guy to listen to a woman
when she gives him warnings. Toxic masculinity at it’s finest.
 |
| Elly Clapin |
What raises
questions to me is what side of the story the writer falls on; in other words,
is this a pro-Christian/religious take, or just a cinematic telling of the
possibilities of the supernatural? There are some slight indications of the former,
such as shadows that produce crosses, be it a streetlight, or my favorite is
when Clint’s shadow intersects a horizontal line, producing said cross at his
introduction to the story.
The category I
would describe this film would be Dark Fantasy, which tends to be a bit black
and white as far as good and evil goes. Either you are or you ain’t, though
switching from one to the other is a viable choice (think Anakin Skywalker becoming
Darth Vader); there’s just no gray area in between.
This works
both for and against the storyline here. On the positive, it’s easier to like
the characters that dwell in the light (especially with that inspirational synth
music behind them), as there are few conflicts other than those working on
Frank. The other side is a bit of predictability which is inevitable. While I
pretty much guessed the outcome, the ride was interesting, especially with some
nice double-crosses along the way.
 |
| A demon |
One of the aspects
I really liked about this particular story is the updating of the powers to include
modern technology, especially computers and cell phones, as the transmission of
controls. These are indeed the modern magic wands that transform, with coding
being the updated version of spells. With every technology, as social theorist
Neil Postman stated in 1993, we have a Faustian Bargain with our electronic equipment,
each containing both the good and equally bad (or, as John Culkin said in 1967,
“We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us”).
Let’s call
this a thriller, because I would not necessarily call this “horror” despite the
presence of demons and beings of light/goodness; as I said this is a darker
version of a lot of the shows you may see on cable. There’s no blood other than
a couple of cuts here and there, and most of the tension relies more on the story
than the visuals, which are often quite stunning thanks to some nice camerawork.
Let me add that the Aussie countryside mixed with camera drones gives us a beautiful
view. But even beyond that, the film is shot well, and the editing is nicely
done.
As for the
acting, there is a bit of ham boning here and there, and straight out of “The
Manny,” it seems like scenes were produced for Hov to be shirtless and show off
his pecs, but the end result is a film that a fan of sorcery can watch without
having to cover their eyes to avoid seeing some body bits flinging around with
red internal gravy shooting out.
While the
story can get a bit convoluted at times, it’s mostly a straightforward tale of
the clash of good and evil, and it can be family-friendly depending on the clan,
of course.
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