Review: The Long Night

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

The Long Night (aka The Coven)
Directed by Rich Ragsdale
Sprokefeller Pictures; Adirondack Media Group; El Ride Productions; Hillin Entertainment; Well Go USA Entertainment
91 minutes, 2022
www.wellgousa.com/films/the-long-night

Seems like it’s been a little while since I have seen a film where a family is threatened by a coven. They used to be quite popular, between Hammer Films releases and the likes of Race with the Devil (1975).

Scout Tayler-COmpton, Nolan Gerard Funk

Our protagonists here are a New York couple, Grace (Scout Taylor-Compton, who played the leads in 2007’s Zombie Halloween remake and The Lurker in 2020) and Jack (Nolan Gerard Funk, who spent a season on “Glee”). They are traveling to find out about her ancestry in South Carolina. Along the way, there are portents of things to come, like the obligatory questionable gas station owner. [Digression: If I won the lottery, I would like to open a little grocery store in the middle of nowhere, just so when people with out of state plates show up, I can say, “Ah’d turn back if ah wuz you.”]

To find out about her past, which is a mystery to her though she has unresolved flashback dreams, they are directed to a plantation (that’s the word Grace uses) that is surrounded by fields, forests, and sloughs. There’s an old, probably family cemetery down the road, but that’s about it. It’s a bucolic setting which we get to see often from drone shots.

As soon as they arrive, the creepy stuff starts to happen, including (trigger warning) lots of snakes, pentagrams with a dead woodland creature, and a mysterious person who pops in and out dressed in the obligatory cult cape and cowl, with a deer face and antlers, among others. Even with that and a couple of jump scares, the first half hour is a bit of a slow burn as we get to know a little about Jack (he’s a bit contradictory, swinging between concerned hero and a bit of a dick, so one could say “We don’t know Jack”) and the purposefully named Grace (obvious choice).

There are some well worn tropes used pretty early on, such as phones and transportation not working. However, I honestly can’t see any other way to keep them there at Coven Central, so it is forgivable. The fun level does pick up a bit at the beginning of the second act, when the Coven comes around to surround the house, carrying torches; more on that below.

Generally speaking (or writing), there are usually two kinds of evil Cult films. One is the more human, where they are people worshiping a different god to the same effect as anyone worshiping the Biblical one: hopeful. Then there are the supernatural ones, like this, where people can be possessed, spells can be cast, and it’s more mysterious. The latter tends to be more interesting as here they focus on Uktena, a serpent demon.

Even from very early on, it is telegraphed that Grace’s roots and childhood have to do with the Coven, which even a simpleton can figure out, so this should not be a spoiler. It would be like saying you didn’t know Michael Meyers was going to be a psycho killer (qu’est-ce que c’est?) when he popped in and out of the bushes in the original Halloween (1978). And in my own defense, the publicity shot used most often gives away way too much (I have not included it), as does the trailer (which is below).

Once the second act has started, the action really ramps up and rarely relents. It’s worth the wait. And throughout, there are a couple of cool extended cameos, such as the brother of the owner of the plantation, played by Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man; “Lost”), and as the Coven leader, Deborah Kara Unger (Cronenberg’s Crash; Thirteen). This is actually some mighty firepower, acting wise. Though the two leads do pretty well themselves, as they are in a vast majority of the scenes, either together or apart.

There is one scene of nudity, though I’m thinking body doubles, and there is very little blood and gore (though one squeamish scene, not counting the snakes).

After the prologue, the film takes place, obviously, over the course of, well, one long night (which is also the name of the ritual of the Coven). The film is broken up into numerous chapters, such as “The Invitation” and “The Ritual.”

All that being said, the film could use a tad of edit excising for the inevitable “Deleted Reel.” While gothic feel is a must, especially on a plantation at night, it can be overdone a bit, and there is easily 10 to 15 minutes’ worth of mood that is less structure than show-off.

The director, Rich Ragsdale, should be commended here. He has helmed a lot of music videos over the years, but he has not fallen into the trap of super-fast edits on this film. He takes his time, lovingly giving moody forest scenes, or will hang on the person rather than many quick cutaways. The cinematography by Pierluigi Malavasi lovingly shows texture, and uses light to give the impression of lamps rather than kliegs. A couple of his shots of the fire on the edges of the torches is just beautiful.

This is a welcome addition to the Cult canon, and hits so many of the right notes.

IMBD Listing HERE