Review: Blight

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

Blight
Directed by Jeff Van Gerwen
Strange Door Films
75 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/BlightFilm

When starting out as a filmmaker, as this is Van Gerwen’s debut feature after a music video for Joystick and a few shorts, the style he employs makes total sense. Blight is essentially broken into three intermingled parts.

To start, there is the found footage type of style where a gaggle of seven twenty-something friends get together to go camping on the subtext of hopefully seeing aliens because there is to be a solar eclipse. The second, in spurts, is that same scary night and whatever happened then to members of the group. Then the third, and main body of the story, is a coming home party for Logan (Ashley van Kirk), who had mysteriously disappeared during the camping trip for a while, spent a year in an asylum, and has now come back as a shell of her former outward self. This section is not found footage per se, but it is obviously done on a hand-held camera.

Our initial grouping is: Logan and her boyfriend and the person doing the found footage filming, Luke (Joel Crumbley). The obnoxious self-leader of the group is Mark (Tripp Karrh), whose girlfriend is Tara (Kalee Griffin). Then there is Harrison (Kristin Calhoun), whose musician boyfriend is Tien (Han-Sam Jung). The seventh-wheel to start is Harper (Erika Ramirez).

Ashley van Kirk

This group is loud, obnoxious, and full of themselves, but they are also curious about what happened to Logan, who is reticent to disclose both the events of that night, and what has been going on since. And when she gets upset, things begin to happen, like lights flickering and the house shaking, for a start. I was amused when Mark asks “Was there a launch?” This wasn’t really explained, but I knew what he meant because, according to IMDB, it was filmed at Cocoa Beach, FL (does Jeannie and Major Nelson live nearby?).

To be honest, at first, I was a bit dismayed by the whole found footage part, and even the welcome home party dragged through a game called “Mafia,” but then it started to pick up nicely into the second act, until being really taut and suspenseful for the third act. So, despite the slow start, it really revved up by the half-way point. Being a relatively short film, that isn’t too long a wait.

Most of the cast are relatively new to film, but they all do a good job, especially considering that most of the dialogue is ad libbed. The range of emotions is wide, and they all certainly hold their own. That helps the film enormously.

Joel Crumbley

I have always wondered why on found footage releases, the camera keeps cutting out with digital noise. Mine has never done that. Is it supposed to be an indicator of its own style? As the director has stated, the film was shot over a 4-night and single afternoon period, with only 20 minutes of dialogue pre-determined. It was finished as the 2020 COVID lockdown began. Being locked in your house is a good way to get through post-production (every cloud…).

This is part social construct between these friends, part mystery, part horror. There are a couple of really nice red herrings leading to a thrilling tie-up that may not be what one is expecting; I saw it coming, though, but it did not hamper my enjoyment of the second half.

The film is available for free on TubiTV.

IMBD Listing HERE 

Review: Face of the Devil

 Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Face of the Devil (aka La Cara del Diablo)
Directed by Frank Perez Garland
Star Films; La Soga Producciones; Jinga Films; Danse Macabre; MVD Visual
87 minutes, 2014 / 2021
www.facebook.com/caradeldiablo/ 
www.Jingafilms.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Usually, when a story claims to be “Inspired by true events,” you know it’s going to be either a slasher film or dealing with the supernatural, be it ghost or demon/devil. And since this film is from the Northern Peru city and jungle surroundings of Tarapoto (the characters travel the 600 miles from Lima), it is no surprise that it is leaning towards the latter. Peru is generally a religious country, and religion tends to lead to belief in the evil end of the supernatural spectrum, as well as the holy. As you may guess, the film is in Spanish, with English subtitles.

Vania Accinelli

In this version of a cabin in the woods, it’s a wooden, multi-room hotel in the middle of the jungle with no internet or phone service (natch). Actually, it looks like a cool vacation spot, even though there are no roads leading in or out (just walking trails), so I wonder how it is self-supported. But I digress… The only way to get there is by boat. On that small craft are seven attractive young friends who are undergrad age, including the main couple, virginal Lucero (Vania Accinelli, in her first role) and Gabriel (Sergio Gjurinovic), another couple, Mateo (Nicolás Galindo) and Fabiola (Maria Fernanda Valera), and three others friends, Paola (Carla Arriola), Camila (Alexa Centurion), and diminutive incel Pablo (Guillermo Castaneda), who has a thing for Paola. 

The creep factor starts early on with the odd and unsmiling “host” of the place (Ismael Contreras), as he passes out the keys to the giggling gaggle of youths. Needless to say, he fills the iconic role of the older man who warns the group to be careful, because no matter where you are in the world, if a bunch of young people onscreen get together to go somewhere secluded, there must be this character, be it the guy who runs the gas station, just walking along, or in this case, runs the hotel.

After some exploring and topless bathing by a beautiful waterfall, the group settle into a hot tub to tell the equivalent of scary campfire stories in order to bring up the main topic and threat of the film, the shape-shifting, whistling Tunche, or demonic spirit (thank you, Google).

Before you can say ceviche – okay, about 20 minutes in – a mysterious woman starts popping in and out just beyond the windows to start the second act, and the motor starts revving, slowly at first and building. There is also quite a bit of wind and rustling of foliage. It sounds weird, but it was a bit unsettling, as the director used it well: not over- nor underdoing it.

Despite following a few of the group-in-the-woods paradigms, one of the aspects I really liked about the film is that the kids in question are not slasher cliches. For example, there is no jock who mistreats women or his friends, no over sexualized woman who backstabs, no goths, no know-it-all intellectual who seems to prenatally be aware of everything about the supernatural, no prankster… you get the picture. One thing I will say, though, is that – and I can only go by the English translation captions – the word “moron” is used a lot. These are more genuine-feeling people, despite some natural bickering here and there, which is actually better because there is no one to root for to get killed (you know, that satisfaction when the jock invariably gets it, for example). They all have their own personalities, and come across as decent people, generally. This helps the kills be more emotional, which I believe makes for a better picture overall.

How does the Tunche arrive at this faraway location to pick off our crew one by one? Its origin becomes obvious, in part, pretty early on, thanks to some nice flashbacks, but the film does not lose any of its umph because of that

Despite the nice sized body count, there is actually very little blood for quite a while, and minimal gore. As for the physical end, there are some naked breasts and a male tush, and a theme of almost-sex, but this is watchable for both the horror hound and the novice (who is okay with the nudity).

The acting is better than usual, which is hardly surprising considering the work many of the cast has done, mostly in shorts and especially playing recurring characters on television series.

Although there are fewer living bodies by the third acts, there are still moments of tension, and a nicely done reveal, as it should be in a genre film. And as a movie in this category, it quite lives up to it. It is appropriately eerie, and manages to keep it up pretty consistently, when the group isn’t emersed in water somewhere. Through the love and squabbles, and lots of bikinis, it successfully pokes at you more with mood and tension than with jump scares. I found this enjoyable, even with the subtitles, which were easy to read, and did not pop in-and-out too fast, as is often the case. A worthy view.

Extras are a few really interesting trailers (including for this film), most of them in foreign languages with captions, as well as the standard stereo options and chapters.

 

Reviews: The Visitant; Revisitant

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

I found out about the sequel, so I figured I would check out the original first.

 

The Visitant
Directed by Jon Binkowski
Kings of Horror; FWC Pictures
87 minutes, 2014
https://kingsofhorror.com/the-visitant/

After a short and well done prologue, we are introduced to struggling and aging actress Samantha (Michelle Simms). Her current gig is as a professional psychic in an amusement park. I used to date the assistant of a professional psychic and have seen how intense the job can be, and how over the top the clientele are sometimes. Samantha is a charlatan, and she knows it.

But, as these things must in this kind of film, a mysterious client, Lee (Sallie Glaner), shows up with a real psychic problem: a visitant by malevolent spirit in her home. Like a game of tag team, the wraith connects to a person and makes their lives a living hell, with electronics flashing, lights going on and off, glass breaking, and oddly enough, towels being folded, among other manifestations.

Michelle Simms; Sallie Glaner

This was a surprisingly fun ride, with some genuine jump scares and effects that are not over the top, but definitely effective. There is some CGI involved but it looked minimal to me, with most of the effects being practical.

The one big flaw in the story, in my opinion, is that Samantha stays in the house, often on the phone with her friend Maya (Tracy Wiu), who is both a real psychic expert and in the Greek Chorus role so Samantha can express what she is thinking out loud, and give some exposition about Samantha and her late husband. One minute all these supernatural things are happening, the next she’s excusing it and refusing to go. If I may digress, I once stayed overnight at a friend’s family home, in the basement suite. As I was falling asleep, I felt someone sit on the bed. I turned on the light and no one was there. I slept in the car. Samantha has a radio static call her name and is only momentarily bothered by it. Sure, the thing will follow her, but she does not know that. She should have left until she did.

Other than that, I found the film much better than I expected. It was definitely creepy, even though it uses some tropes that are not uncommon. I was impressed, and it kept my attention. Usually, I write my reviews as I watch the film, but for this I am composing it after.

I was also impressed by the acting. Simms keeps up the character without being either too over the top, or so dead-pan that she doesn’t recognize the situation. Simms is onscreen nearly the entire film and often by herself (not counting the spook), and she carries it fiercely right until the end. Again, while she is calmer than I would be in that situation and much earlier, she gives the character some pathos and determination. As the initial visitant attachee, Glaner does a great job. What I have seen of her before (demo reels on IMDB), she tends to play stoic doctor or executive types, but here she does frazzled really well, especially when she’s talking to Samantha at the amusement park.

There were a few cliché elements I was expecting which did not occur, which is also a credit to the writing. It is nicely shot and edited, using the timing well. The twist about how the progression of the spirit worked well within the story’s framework. Overall, it was a surprisingly fun and one of the better nasty ghost films I have seen in a while.

Watch the whole film free HERE 

 

ReVisitant
Directed by Jon Binkowski
Kings of Horror; Renaissance Entertainment; Terror Films
100 minutes, 2019
www.revisitant.com
www.terrorfilms.net

Since I do not have a nosebleed, I am going to progress onto the recently released sequel of The Visitant, witfully titled ReVisitant.

With what seems like a larger budget, the prologue is essentially a recap by showing five minutes of the ending of the first film, along with some other informative reminding bits going forward.

We are introduced to a new family a couple of doors down from the original house, which is now owned by the bank, scheduled to be razed. Personally, I think it is a great house, but capitalism tends to win out.

Maya Smith, Amy Smith, Lisa Enos Smith, Jade Rattigan

The occupants are a mother, Leslie (Lisa Enos Smith), her young daughter Sarah (Jade Rattigan), a teenage daughter, Amanda (Amy Smith), and Amanda’s friend, Kat (Maya Smith). Sarah tends to sneak into the spooked house and “rescues” some of the creepy artifacts, but what gets passed along to the family is far worse, and if you have seen the first film, you know what I mean. Actually, I’ll bet you can pretty well figure that out anyway.

The entity manages to jump to many people in this issue, much like in the 1998 film, Fallen. There is also a couple of nods to Poltergeist (1982), such as an incident involving a chair; Sarah really seems to be getting into the whole ghost thing, but you know it’s going to get darker as the film progresses. As the being takes hold, it is interesting to see its progression, from being like a trailer attached to a car to becoming the whole RV.

As more and more characters get added to the story, including some from the first film, an abusive stalker ex-boyfriend Norm Becker (J.T. Becker) who you know is as good as toast, and cat lady neighbor Miss Patty Pender (Patty Bender, in another character/cast name bender), there is more of a variety than in the first release.

With all the horror this family goes though, the film also has a – dare I say it – devilish sense of humor, at times, along with some decent jump scares. For example, a relatively comic relief character, Griffon (Marc Musso). is wearing a Scare Zone tee-shirt, from a 2009 film by ReVisitant’s director.

Sallie Glander, Amy Smith

As with the first, the standard for the acting here is incredibly high, with Sallie Glaner and relative newcomer Rattigan holding her own.

There were three questions in the story I had when the film proper ended, two of which were resolved “Dark Shadows” style during the final credits (make sure you sit through the credits at least until the cast is listed). The third and unresolved one is that Maya had been tagged by the meanie for a year, but it wasn’t until after it passed to the next person that she brought out Griffon to get rid of the manifestation, whom she apparently knew even before the first film?

In this film as with the last, there are some genuine jump scares and effects that, while are also not over the top, are more intense, with minimal CGI.

As is common in the follow-up, we are given the back story of the spirit and a hint of more to come. I certainly would not object to that. Both these films are good candidates to be added to the spookathon canon.

Review: 10/31

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

10/31

Compiled by Rocky Gray; directed by Brett DeJager, Rocky Gray, Zane Hershberger, Johnny Holt, Justin M. Seaman

MVD Entertainment

93 minutes, 2015 / 2019

www.mvdb2b.com

If you are like me, Halloween is in your heart no matter what the time of year. While the film is dated for the last day of October, even in the deep of the Xmas season, horror will prevail.

Malvolia: The Queen of Screams

It’s nice to cozy up to the player and watch an anthology film as the snow flies and the temps drop. This particular comp of shorts deal with that hap-happiest time of the year, when the pumpkins are showing, and ghosts will be roving all filled with good scares. Okay, I’m getting away with myself.

The wraparound story, which is only briefly at the beginning and the end, is presented by real web horror hostess Malvolia: the Queen of Screams (Jennifer Nagle) with her “Malvolia’s Halloween Monster Marathon.” Warning, cleavage abounds.

The first story is “The Old Hag,” directed by Justin M. Seaman, which is based on the Urban Legend that mixes the horror of an old crone out to steal your life essence, and the psychology of Night Paralysis, where you are unable to move in the middle of the night, even though you are conscious of what is happening around you. For this tale of nocturnal terror, two newbie filmmakers are commissioned to make a commercial for Montgomery Mansion, a great gothic Bed & Breakfast whose address could be 1313 Mockingbird Lane – I want to live there. The first hint that something is amiss is when the owner informs our two unsuspecting guys that locals refer to it as “the gingerbread house.” Soon, one of them starts seeing things, such as an old woman in white, that the others do not. There are some really decent jump scares here and there, and also a healthy sense of dark humor throughout. You’ll know the outcome, but the ride there and the aftermath is worth waiting to see.

Next up is “Trespassers,” directed by Zane Hershberger, which mixes a couple of different genres in ways that I did not expect (bonus!). A couple are out on their first date on, yes, Halloween. After a horror film at a local cinema, she aggressively decides what’s next. He’s as nerdy as she is outrageous, as is posited by her blue hair (shades of 1986’s Something Wild). She takes him to a deserted farm where a family in the 1950s came to a bloody end, and there is a scarecrow left behind. Our girl decides to figure out – as the Cramps sang about so long ago – what’s behind the mask. We are presented mysterious shadows and a conclusion that you may not see coming, though I have to say that this couple has zero chemistry and obviously could never last, as if that were an option. There is an added element at the end was worth the wait. There is also a nice nod to George A. Romero in one of the names, but I ain’t a-gonna tell ya, because it would ruin the surprise.

The third story, by John Holt, is “Killing the Dance,” a throwback to 1980s slashers that, if I read the signs right, actually takes place at that time. A young woman is given care of her young nephew on her last day at work at a roller disco (what a senseless fad that rightfully disappeared pretty damn quick). She’s in the process of breaking up with her douche of a boyfriend though he doesn’t know it yet, and now someone has brought a razor onto the disco floor. This short is very stylistically shot, with lots of literal smoke and literary mirrors. It’s not hard to tell who the killer is about halfway through, and yet there are some aspects the viewer may not see ahead of time. I wish the ending was explained a bit more (I’ll give no more detail than that), but it’s conclusion is brutal and abrupt. It’s fun, but at times intentionally silly in the way slashers could be in the ‘80s.

Then there’s Brett DeJager’s “The Halloween Blizzard of 1991.” It’s the strangest so far of all the stories and so different than the others. While taking place on Halloween, there is also a Christmas element to it that is beyond creepy. There’s evil elfin children trick or treating, Santa himself making an appearance, and some nice slice-and-dice to add it all up. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on half the time, but enjoyed it nonetheless; go figure. The acting in this one is wooden at best, and the visual tone is filtered towards ecru and almost looks like it was shot in 1991 with a VHS. It’s successful in many ways, even if I’m scratching my head about some aspects. It almost seems like the revenge of 12/25 over the popularity of 10/31.

“The Samhain Slasher” by Rocky Gray is up for the last short. It’s a bit of a mash-up, but the main focus is on said slasher, out to release some red on… do I need to say it at this point? There is a bit of possession, Ouija spiritualism, dream sequences and so much more thrown in if a guy (guys?) with a machete roaming around a-hackin’ and a-slashin’ isn’t enough for you. Gray has a nice way of telling a tale; because there are so many variations going on, it makes sense that scenes would sway into others, rather than the standard cut of shot to shot. The gore is prolific and looks good, though not overly done, and the different genres definitely keep the viewer off one’s feet of expectations. A really good short.

There are no extras and there is a truly annoying synth soundtrack that runs throughout most of these, but the stories are well written and shot, and that is the meat of the matter, innit? Each of the shorts is about the same length, so that divides the time quite well, and it’s also time worth spent.

Review: Amityville: No Escape

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Amityville: No Escape

Directed by Henrique Couto

New Dynamic / Camp Motion Pictures

80 minutes, 2016

www.facebook.com/AmityvilleNoEscape/

Waynesville, OH, where this was shot, is a far cry from the Long Island-based Amityville, NY (approximately 666 miles away, actually), where the original Amityville novel and film took place. I’ve been through Amityville any number of times, usually along the Sunrise Highway or Merrick Avenue (Route 27A), and it’s remarkably suburban. Its parks are completely manicured and filled with baseball diamonds. Quite boring, actually.

The Amityville of this story, however, is on the edge of a deep, dark woods, opening up the possibility of a found footage wonderland filled with mystery, spirits and evil. This concept is way more fun than its reality, even though as with most found footage this is supposedly “based on the real tapes,” so let’s stick with this one, whatcha say?

Josh Miller and Joni Durian

Actually, the mild contrast of the reality of the Atlantic oceanside community with close neighbors and the fictional woods-based town is quite amusing, as there are wild animals and people with shotguns walking around in the No Escape version.

But there are also added juxtapositions within the story itself that enhance the mood and breaks up the walking-in-the-woods-by-camera-light syndrome. The timeframe is split into two groups. The first is of a woman, Lina (Julia Gomez) who moves into the house, and is preparing to send a VHS diary to her husband who is overseas in the military. She starts off perky, and as events occur that are straight out of Poltergeist (1982) and the Paranormal franchise, she gets affected by the strange goings on. If you can get past her annoying constant verbal “ummm” type ticks, her scenes are pretty effective.

Michael William Ralston and Alia Gabrielle Eckhardt

The other segment take place in the “now” (2016) as a group of friends decide to do a project to record themselves to see what “scares” them. And where better than Amityville; though a meta comment by a one character is essentially the confusion of why go there when there are haunted houses where they are. The core of the group is George (Josh Miller), who has “daddy issues,” his lovely and adoring girlfriend Sarah (Joni Durian), his snarky sister Elizabeth (Allison Egan), their vegan New Age pal Lisa (Alia Gabrielle Eckhardt, who also did the make-up FX), and the bearded pervy camera guy, Simon (Michael William Ralston).

Another flip is that the Lina sections are nearly all inside the house (with an occasional bit in the backyard), and the group is almost always in the woods except for a The Blair Witch Project (1999) moment indoors the supposed house. This is all very clever writing to not only break up the way the found footage is presented, but to be both claustrophobic and yet… not.

Allison Egan (right)

Is the film scary? Well, I think creepy is a better way of putting it. A spooky child that tends to appear and disappear is a nice way of playing with that, though I would have liked some kind of back story about her (i.e., I don’t remember her from the original Amityville story, though I do remember the pig face in the window).

There is no gore, but a nice amount of blood, and a surprising quantity of female nudity. I’m not complaining, mind you. One of the good things is that most of the effects are practical and make-up based.

The acting is well done, and a lot comes across as natural, even if a character is annoying, which is a bonus. For example, Miller’s “George” is often a demanding dick, which is polar opposite of the pathetic schlub he played so well in Couto’s 2016 comedy Nothing Good Ever Happens. Same with Durian, who is super-hyper in Couto’s 2019 Ouija Room, but here is more subtle and subdued (mostly). Even Gomez, with her “umm” tic, shows a range well, going from giddiness to abject fear.

Much of the cast is part of a collective in the Dayton area that shows up often in both Couto films and that of Dustin Mills, though some of the obvious usual actors seem to be missing here (who were probably busy with Mills). But that’s okay, since everyone did well.

Julia Gomez

While I won’t give away the ending (never do), there is an interesting twist that’s a bit of a head scratcher and a conversation starter for the viewer(s) that I respect.

Getting back to the use of the found footage trope, what I liked about this film more than most others in the sub-genre is that while people may be walking in the woods with camera lights (how do they keep their batteries charged?), there is little running through the dark, which I find really annoying. Walking isn’t as bad on the eyes and stomach.

The copy of this film I reviewed was an online screener, but it is now available in Blu-ray.

Despite being very prolific and genre-jumping, Couto has once again shown that he knows his way around a film, and I look forward to seeing more of his output. And check out his numerous podcasts, which can be found linked on his Facebook page.

Review: The 27 Club

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

The 27 Club

Directed by Patrick Fogarty

Cleopatra Entertainment / MVD Entertainment

97 minutes, 2019

www.cleopatraentertainment.com

www.mvdb2b.com

Though I am not a musician, I still remember the feeling of relief on my 28th birthday, knowing I didn’t become a member of what has become known as the “27 Club.” This seems to be the terminal age for a lot of people in the music biz, including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Brian Jones, blues musician Robert Johnson, Canned Heat’s Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, the Grateful Dead’s Pigpen, Big Star’s Chris Bell, D. Boon of the Minutemen, Kristen Pfaff of Hole, and so many others. In most of these cases, it’s a matter of meeting the Master through misadventure (drugs, suicide, car accidents, etc.).

Maddisyn Carter

The main thing about this film and others like it, is that you know exactly where it is taking us, and whom it is going to affect; the big question and what keeps us watching is the how the final comeuppance will arrive. Hey, it’s in the title, and the big hint is given in the first act. We just need to stick around for the ride to get to the conclusion of the deal with the… devil? Demon?

The question(s) behind the film, of course, is oft asked: how far are you willing to go to achieve your goals, and do the ends justify the means? For many it’s quite an easy question. For me, well, not so much.

The main protagonist in the film is Jason (Derrick Denicola), a music lover and student who is writing a paper for teacher, Professor Crawford (the Todd Rundgren), who gives odd vibes right from the start. Jason is convinced that the so-called 27 Club has something behind it, and when Quinn Scott (Travis Grant) of the band Saturn’s Return, the latest rock star in the film’s prologue to join the list, he is even more determined to find the answer. So much so, in fact, he wears a Saturn’s Return tee shirt through at least the first half of the film over several days.

Todd Rundgren on the left

As a brief aside, Jason has some cool stuff on the walls of his room, including album covers by the likes of the Damned, Iggy and the Stooges (Raw Power), and of course Todd Rundgren. Now my theory is that Jason is being influenced by Prof. Crawford because in a record store scene reminiscent of High Fidelity (2000), Crawford suggests the same Damned and Iggy albums to a patron who is interested in an Everclear colored vinyl. But Crawford/Rundgren is so cool, he’s actually wearing a tee from the West Coast post-punk industrial noise band Chrome; I still have my Chrome LPs, FYI.

Somehow, Jason manages to hook up with the sister of his best friend’s (Zack Kozlow) girlfriend, an aspiring singer named Lily (Maddisyn Carter), who is a mess on so many level (personality, indulgences, etc.) though lovely to espy. Lily has a strong desire to make it in the biz, but will she go above and beyond, as it were, to kick start her career rather than sabagoogee it?

In smaller roles, it’s nice to see actors Nick Principe as a massive crony to a mad Satanist, and as a news reporter, Kelly Erin Decker, who stole every scene in which she appeared in during Halloween Pussy Trap Kill Kill! (2017).

Derrick Denicola

All the actors involved here hit the marks without having to rely on histrionics (in other words, they can act), which is probably a good thing especially since there isn’t a character here that is totally likeable, even the main two. I’ve mentioned Lily, but Jason is no cotton candy either; he may be just as focused on his goal of finishing his paper as Lily is with her career, but he does some pretty skeevy things in his own right, such has filming himself having sex without telling his partner. But it’s not just these two as no one seems to have any sense of boundaries or be aware of personal space. I find no fault on the writers of this film, though, as having been involved with the world of musicians, this tends to be true as a general rule.

One of the interesting ideas about this film is having other, more infamous members of the 27 club speak in between scenes hidden mostly in the shadows, such as Jimi, Janis, Jim, Kurt and Robert Johnson. This is a cool idea as a concept, but for some reason it doesn’t really work too well, I’m truly sorry to say. This may be because what they say gets lost in the echo/reverb, and does not really translate or contribute to the story. Perhaps if what they said related to what was happening to our main characters at the time it would be a better fit, but it remains as an interesting concept.

The extras are two brief (about 2 minutes) interviews with the two leads, Denicola and Carter. There is also a photo slideshow which are just some screen grabs, the trailer, and a bunch of other coming attractions from the Cleopatra label, many films I have seen and enjoyed. That being said, this is a three-disc set, the first two each being a Blu-ray and DVD version of the film (which is also available in single disc, as well). The third is the soundtrack CD, with bands such as Geri-X, VV and the Void, Die Klute, the Anix, and of course Todd Rundgren (featuring Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). This should not be surprising as Cleopatra has a music wing, and I’m willing to bet most of these bands are on their label. Personally, as a music snob myself, I was not impressed by most of it, but my tastes remain with proto- and first wave punk.

Despite the predictability of the ending, the story was told well by some decent writing and acting, and kept my interest. Nice way to spend an afternoon with some tortured souls.

Review: Exorcism of the Dead

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Exorcism of the Dead

Directed by John Migliore

Survival Zombie Films / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Entertainment

84 minutes, 2014 / 2019

www.facebook.com/survivalzombie/

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdb2b.com

Possession films, be it demons or dolls (or both), are the genre du jour, it seems. Of course, the pure exorcism films started with the granddaddy of them all, The Exorcist (1973), which led to a plethora of others such as Beyond the Door (1974).

Over the past decade, it has kicked in again, and there are a large number of exorcism-focused films that have been flocking to theaters and straight to video-on-demand: The Haunting of This, The Possession of That, and not to mention the mainstream Annabelles and Insidiouses. The recent culmination for me came with Stephen Biro’s ultra-violent but smart The Song of Solomon (2018).

That does not mean I’m moving on; I still like the genre, so when I saw this Hamilton, Ontario release, I knew I wanted in. The $5000 CAD (about $3700 USD) budget enticed me even more. Indie really is fun.

Sarah Swerid

There are some standard tropes here like the priest, Father Abuna (Nick Biskupek) with possibly a secret that we must wait to find out if that’s true or not…okay, it’s mentioned on the box and in all the press for the film. But here is a newish twist: the main subject, Candice (Sarah Swerid) might actually already be dead, but being brought back in snatches by whatever malevolent force possesses her body. That’s a nice kink in the cliché.

I have learned from other exorcism films that priests that fail to release the demon / spirit / devil / entity from the host wind up in hell. Now, I don’t believe in any of this stuff in real life, so I just go with the ride.

There are some pretty good choices made in the picture, such as the bad spirit being able to body jump to cause more damage and, more importantly, create a higher body count beyond the four main characters. Wait, I’ve only mentioned the main two, haven’t I? There is also Candice’s caretakers, her mom Eunice (Afrikaner / Canadian Deborah Jayne Reilly Smith) and her Uncle Philip (Rich Piatkowski).

There’s lots of other elements thrown into the story that personally I didn’t see coming, including infanticide, a (hinted at) heavenly ghost, the use of pepper (yes, the spice)… and the possibility of a zombie apocalypse? While there are plenty of clichés, there are also some nice new touches, and I appreciate that. Low budget can definitely equal necessary new directions.

While some of the acting is kind of either wooden or over the top, Swerid does a decent job. Lots of shouting and eyebrow arching acting from the rest of the main cast; this is pretty typical in films that are shot quickly (for example, the 45 minutes Swerid is on camera was completed in two days… thanks for the info IMDB). The SFX varies from some very good wounds to a final demon make-up that is a tad over-done. But for the budget? Impressive.

Nick Biskupek

The “Behind the Scenes” extra is a brief 3:00 slide show of pictures taken onset, including cast and crew. Even briefer is the “Strange Events” segment at just over 2:00, where they try and claim things like “light orbs” on pictures (light refractions off the lens), or that a cat (Mr. Jinx) went wakka-wakka during an exorcism sequence. It was very amusing, and I smiled all the way through it. Then there are some trailers in the extras section.

The first but not least extra is the director’s commentary track, which he shares with actor/producer Smith, Music director Mike Trebilcock, and Mr. Jinx. They are very respectful and do not talk over each other (not counting the cat), which is a major positive in my book. Also, there is lots of talk about particular scenes that I did not catch that were interesting (such as the possible sexual orientation of characters), little tidbits like the significance of objects in the scene, and of course there are lots of production notes. There’s a bit of self-congratulatory on the work among them, but I can get past that with the other information. It’s a relatively straightforward commentary, but honestly, that’s what I like.

As exorcism films go, this one may not be overly scary or bloody, but the storyline is interesting and kept my interest throughout. In a well-worn sub-genre, that’s a nice touch of the spirit.