A moody, atmospheric tale of retribution stained with blood and grief, Sunrise is a tense horror thriller overflowing with drama. Brought to you from Lionsgate, the same studio that gave us last year’s creepy crawling feature Cobweb, comes a distinctive, entertaining and sometimes ruthless take on vampires. Sunrise delivers action and tragedy in even doses for this distinctive take on bloodsuckers and their potential origins. Stylish and beautifully directed by Andrew Baird with top notch writing from Ronan Blaney, this is a misty tale of justice and revenge as well as a renewed look at vampirism as not just a disease or a curse, but a staple that’s long infested our world in demonic forms. An eerie opener tells us of a demon living deep in interconnected forests, slaked by animal sacrifices with the power to give eternal life at the cost of eternal blood consumption. This entity was deemed “The Red Coat” and seems to be our first hints at vampirism, as we scan through lush green woods to find a red cloaked being feasting on a dead animal.
From the forest we pan to a meeting: its leader, Mr. Reynolds (Guy Pearce), is talking somewhat to himself about how the great mixing pot was a mistake and people need to mind their own, and keep with their own. He says this across from a young Asian man, lobbing racial slurs to drive the point home as he insists the man sign over his home or face the consequences. When the man declines and walks away, Reynolds is driven to rage, striking the man with a bottle and stabbing him for good measure; this demagogue is no one to trifle with.
Meanwhile, on a bus, the deceased man’s son Edward (William Gao) is exchanging flirtatious glances with a passenger, but when he exits, he’s brutally assaulted by another passenger; another face telling him to stay in his place. At home it is a solemn affair, as the family mourns the loss of their husband and father, creating distance between Edward and his mother and sister. Panning back to the verdant woods we find a man hobbling and injured, dazed by the endless branches and shuffling away from what sounds like a creature in pursuit, and he’s not the only one being targeted. Back at the house, Yan Loi (Crystal Yu) has gone in after a smoke, unaware she’s being watched.
Two thugs sent by Reynolds appear with a Molotov cocktail in hand which they shatter, alerting the family – who emerge armed, searching for trespassers. Edward locates and incapacitates a man he finds hiding and the pair bring him into the house, vowing to patch him up then evict him once he’s healthy. After medicine and water, the stranger, Fallon (Alex Pettyfer), begins to stir as Yan and her daughter leave the house without Edward. Curiously, he unlocks the door to the man’s room to find his bed empty, the stranger huddled in a dark corner begging for blood. It seems they’ve taken in no ordinary refugee, and despite the danger in the man’s bloodthirsty nature, he isn’t there to harm but to help with the landslide of problems facing the family due to the Reynolds clan.
The film immediately reveals one of the systemic problems facing the family: good old-fashioned racism, alive and well. They are called every slur in the book and are generally unwanted in the town, showing that perhaps in some areas of the world segregation is still a viable idea. This political and emotional pot is at a boil here as Yan and Reynolds vie for control, and not one cast member doesn’t show up to play. Guy Pearce is a force. He’s hateful from his first moments and his degenerate character only continues to degrade as the plot unfolds. He is a cold, ruthless player who is pitted against the formidable Yan and her family, and the stoic yet menacing presence of Pettyfer. Gao and Yu are phenomenal as well, facing every insult and loss with dignity and pursuing their future with ferocity. In spite of having every reason not to trust the community, they still take Fallon in and care for him, though no one cares for the Loi family. We can’t forget Pettyfer though. He is serious, solemnly drifting in and out of memory, shifting the film’s narrative back and forth in time. He’s resourceful in a fight or subdued and calculated in his quiet vengeful pursuit, acting as the perfect protector for the vulnerable family and the ideal match in savagery to take on the sinister demagogue.
Vampirism is loosely treated here: there are no initial bared fangs, outbursts, or wild hunting, and the shady origins of The Red Coat deepen the mystery. Fallon seems to be suddenly overcome by the urge to consume, and others speak of a vampire that feeds not only on blood, but also on pure fear. Animal and human blood is on the table for consumption, something that reminded me of one of my favorite vampiric shorts, Translyvanie, as Fallon guzzles chicken blood much like Ewa fed on rats or perhaps even the “vegetarian” vampires of Twilight that hunted game for sustenance. Cinematography is crisp, with plenty of intimate moments between characters, getting glimpses into the frantic mind of a starving vampire, while admiring the natural beauty from the woods to the rising moon. Treading the line between vengeance and a release, Fallon must make difficult choices while controlling his condition in order to exact his revenge while doubling as a savior.
The film has many layered themes culturally, politically and socially that are exposed rather well, seeing as they are set in a vampire film, illuminating the malignance of xenophobia. A mystical trip into a bloody battle to belong, Sunrise is a well-acted, beautifully shot piece of horror that delivers both fresh and familiar bloody legends of vampirism.
Editor’s note: as a follow-up to Gabby’s recent review of new age thriller Reflect, we were pleased to get the opportunity to interview Dana Kippel. Not only does Dana take a starring role in Reflect (appearing in the role of Summer), but she’s also the film’s writer and director: we were keen to ask some questions about the experience of making the film, some of the themes which are important to Dana, both in this piece of work and in forthcoming projects, and some of the details of these projects. Over to Gabby and Dana!
Warped Perspective: Firstly, how do you define metaphysical horror/sci fi? And what were your influences in choosing this theme or style in Reflect?
DK: I would say this film is more metaphysical sci-fi…but metaphysical film in general uses elements of the filmmaking process to direct attention to the question of “reality”. It has to do with topics such as consciousness, the future, psychology, philosophy, and is usually a mix of science and spirituality. Some examples are Interstellar, Waking Life, I Origins and The OA. I would say metaphysical horror would be something like Beyond The Black Rainbow and The Void. Cool flicks.
WP: What were the biggest challenges of your debut feature film?
DK: EVERYTHING! Ha ha, I think challenging my self-limiting beliefs and doubts were the biggest challenge. The thoughts of “I can’t do this” or “I don’t deserve this”, “I can’t raise this money” would creep into my head. I just had to remind myself they were just thoughts and not facts. What are facts are the actions we take, despite our thoughts. If you push through, anything is possible. Besides that, I would say post production was the biggest challenge, because I am not patient and it took a very long time. At least what I thought was long, until I realized all movies take time. I have definitely matured and learned patience and more attention to detail in the post process since this film.
WP: How did you choose the shooting location? What did shooting on location make easier/more difficult?
DK: I chose it because I traveled to Sedona, Arizona and fell in love with it. I thought it would have great production value, because not many movies have actually been shot there. Shooting on location made the scenes easier on the way to where we had natural lighting, which saved time and the beauty was obvious. I would always like to shoot on location if I can – when I can. I love the naturalism of it. I think the only difficulty really was figuring out bathrooms, power sources, things like that.
WP: What was the biggest budget constraint when creating the alternate realities explored in Reflect?
DK: VFX for sure, as well as for cameras and lenses: we had them donated by production so we had to work with what we had.
WP: What did this piece say, from your perspective, about our origin and creation – being that this piece makes the statement that we have defined souls and a sense we are not alone in the universe? Or Is this simply a beautiful marriage of spirituality and science fiction?
DK: On our origin and creation, I think this movie hints to the fact that we are immortal outside this earthly realm we currently reside in. It also speaks to other realities and dimensions. Also, that the mind can project good or bad, depending on our perspective, and it’s all a reflection or projection. We need to heal ourselves in order to see the good in the world. Everything is literally a reflection of what’s inside of us. And the nature backdrop that our perspective reflects off…that is intelligent, too. It takes in what we project and reflects back to us not only our perspective, but possible things that can evolve us. It is silly to think nature is not intelligent. We are never alone. We have spiritual guides. We have our inner selves. We have a source, the universe, god, whatever you want to call it. And when we heal ourselves, we can reconnect with all of that and more!
WP: You have four upcoming projects, three shorts and another feature: can you tell us about these, and which project are you most excited about coming up and why?
DK: I am most excited to shoot my sci-fi flick this Summer (Inanna) and for my short (Damaged) to hit the festival circuit later this year or early next year. I can’t talk too much about my feature, but my short film is about my addiction and relapse when I was around 20-21, and I hope it brings more compassion to the disease of addiction.
WP: As a director, writer and performer, which hat did you find most difficult to wear?
DK: Performer. Directing and writing are like breathing for me. Acting feels very vulnerable in a way they don’t. It feels like I have to totally give myself over and vacate myself. At the end of the day, my body is tired from acting, whereas with directing my body is energized.
WP: Would you call Reflect feminist horror/sci fi? If so, is that an influence on your upcoming work? I see that Want To Hear a Story? and Damaged tread some familiar ground with female relationships and mental health respectively.
DK: Hmmm. I guess in a way, because it speaks to the divine feminine and the importance of that. But in reality, I would say I am just for all humans and my pure objective is to encourage healing, love, connection and curiosity in everyone. Men or women. I just think I naturally create female stories better because being a woman is my perspective!
A heady, hallucinatory maze, Reflect is the new metaphysical, sci-fi thriller debut from writer, director and star Dana Kippel. Aiming to strip back layers of trauma, mental health and the fortitude of female relationships, this is an altogether imaginative debut with fantastical ideas about our existence and the meaning behind it. Metaphysical horror is hard to define: its definitions are vague and have roots inside and outside of the genre. Some hint more towards a philosophical condition, and this film absolutely puts a lens on our experience as humans, as well as creating an overarching sense of fear, an abstract tone, with psychedelic visuals to deliver a sense of “unreality.” Reflect appears to fit the bill for both science fiction and metaphysical horror, hurling us into a colorful, dreamy alternate reality.
After a trippy nightmare and intrusive thoughts, we meet the cast through a colorful display of tarot cards in the Game of Life: Summer (Dana Kippel) is The Star, Annie (Marissa Patterson) is The High Priestess, Liz (Jadelyn Breier) is Temperance, Nia (Ariana Brown) is The World and Katie (Grace Patterson) is cast as The Empress (if you’re into tarot, now would be your time to take your guesses on association for each card). After introductions, we witness Summer in bed, researching a spiritual retreat in Sedona, Arizona that she plans to invite her girlfriends to after a long time apart. Summer’s partner seems disinterested in the retreat and in Summer generally, creating a sense of isolation within the pair, as it’s clear Summer needs this trip and some form of connection. She meets with Katie to discuss the retreat and the odd $20,000 offer if someone completes it. Summer seems doubtful that anyone would want to join her, but Katie is game and it seems the rest of the group is interested. The next day, Annie arrives, solely for the cash and fairly flat in the face of the experience, and they video call the other two members that are supposed to join them, with most of the girls echoing the sentiment that a spiritual journey is needed.
The trip promises meditation and therapies that will help the girls get in tune with themselves and each other, which some of them aren’t necessarily familiar with. In the car, the girls have been driving through scorching desert until they notice roadside signs, handmade, that lead them to a young man meditating in peculiar clothing amongst a pile of objects. After a silly first impression he provides them with water, and sends them off with a high-spirited wish that the girls can do anything they believe! Interesting stuff. Back on the road, the girls start pestering Summer about what the trip will entail, and she reveals it will be a spiritual obstacle course comprising five themed portions, such as forgiveness and love.
We see in the car there’s some fissures as the girls pick at each other and evaluate their preparedness for the trip whilst assessing each other for weaknesses. Use of the land provides glimpses of the desert as the girls close in on their destination through trees and awe-inspiring rock formations. Surprise! The man from the side of the road is back and his name is Hermes (Joe Filippone)! With a maraca, some interesting dance moves and …barking, he gives a fantastic introduction. As it turns out, he’s their first guide, the focus of this meeting being their lifetime, all of it. Flamboyant but steadfast, he’s a convincing host showing that this retreat is the real deal and their experience has begun.
This is a visually stunning film, from the effects to the success of shooting on location and utilizing the desert imagery, marrying the natural and artificial nicely to create a sense of distance from society. As the women change clothing and are contrasted against bare nature with their ritualistic white dresses, you can’t help but be reminded of the dancing singing women of Midsommar in their similar attire, embracing another once in a lifetime ceremony. Cinematography is top notch, capturing the natural beauty of Sedona and creating interesting, unique shots, close and far from our subjects. Closeups of the natural landscape like the gnarled trees and horizons daze, and closer shots of our subjects reveal layers of emotion as the ordeal unfolds. While sometimes the budget may show its strain during times of intense metaphysical action, the performances help lift what could have been a difficult, draining topic and instead explore the human condition with curiosity and in some ways visually and in its pursuit of truth reminds me of Something in the Dirt. The metaphysical comes in a couple of flavors, as the threats lurking are generally unseen and unknown in all capacities, whether they can access the girls directly or not. This sense of not knowing what’s real, what’s dangerous, what is a memory or a fear, all comes together to create a great universal unease that settles in after the first act. It leaves you with enormous, interesting questions about our being, creation and demise by its end regarding something called “The Game of Life” that also leaves a strange taste in your mouth with a post-credit scene you’ll need to tune in for.
The idea of a spiritual or mental gymnastics-type obstacle course is rather brilliant, as we never think of improving our connectivity the same way we exercise our muscles, using each provided spiritual guide like a personal trainer. Each exercise, each course and each teacher (I have a soft spot for the dancing, loving Inanna, played by a wise and energetic Campbell Crates), pulls away gradually and we are given increasingly sensitive looks into the obstacles within the obstacle course and how they challenge each participant. All five of these women deliver raw, emotional performances as we balance on the edge of a knife, while the film progresses into darker and more intimate territory. Female relationships and anxieties are cut open and we see the emotional vulnerability it takes to be involved at any level, exposing difficulties and even getting one of the group members to come out of the closet; this is a female and queer friendly piece that champions honesty with yourself and others at the highest level—even when it hurts. This is something truly original both in its writing and its visuals, representing a jaw-dropping debut for Kippel as a creator and performer. Reflect is available now for your intoxicating viewing pleasure.
Reflect (2023) is released on VOD on 9th January 2024.
A gritty, action filled roadtrip with piling bodies and a rising speedometer, Roadkill (2024) will be debuting in limited theaters and on video on demand early this January. Directed and written by Warren Fast, this is a whole lot of thriller with the goal in mind to send its viewers away with messages of confronting trauma, seeking justice, and overcoming personal hardship. While the leads of this movie are excited with the final product reaching audiences after nearly three years of work from conception to completion, as well as eager to show off the intense effects and stunts that went with this work, Fast hopes you’ll walk away feeling more than just adrenaline. With crackling, monochrome camera work we begin with a flashback, drowned in gray, cutting to a young boy, dirty, tired, resting in a small house. When his mother arrives and sees he’s yet to eat the food she’s prepared she gets physical, telling him to get out of the home, relegating him to sleep in his beloved dog’s house. When morning breaks, the boy finds his mother laughing wryly over her cigarette, his pet impaled with knives and hung on a post for him to discover.
All just a nightmare, as The Hitchhiker (Ryan Knudson) wakes with a start from his sleeping memories, and we find ourselves rooted in summer’s end of 1983, somewhere in the southeast (most of the filming was done in Bay County, Florida). As the gentle music that ushered us into the Hitchhiker’s dream fades like the memory of his past life with family and children, we are introduced to a young lady, known only as The Driver (Caitlin Carmichael), lollipop as cherry red as her Super Sport hotrod, working on lists and maps. Tire treads and slow footsteps begin to inch the pair towards each other, and The Driver happens upon The Hitchhiker waiting in the road.
His story is sad, one of loss, but The Driver is looking for the same destination as The Hitchhiker, apparently a distant town where his mother lives. Seeing an opportunity for better directions while earning points towards karma for helping a stranger, The Driver invites the man into the car and the two hit the open road. Conversation is short but empathetic; no judgment seems to pass between the two as they start to speak. The Hitchhiker asks her intentions in the far-off town and she prefers that stays private, for now. The pair stops to gas up: The Driver finds herself inside looking to pay some unsavory gentleman for the fuel, meanwhile The Hitchhiker deals with the newly arrived sheriff (Warren Fast) who finds a violation on the fine piece of automotive workmanship. The questions from the lawman start easy, but soon become more pointed: where is he going, where is he from, what is his name? Before anything is divulged, the radio saves the man from having to ante up personal information. While the two get back on the road and skid off it equally as fast, avoiding a turtle, the sheriff is busy on a messy call for bodies they’ve found, recently killed. There’s been murders recently, the killer dubbed The Highway Hunter; victims are mostly drifters or call girls, but these two are local, and there may have been more that match the MO they simply don’t know about. The chase is on for the little red car that didn’t sit right with the sheriff.
Echoes of other beautiful young women that have been wronged seem to resonate in this piece as our overly sexualized, beautiful Driver has all the hallmark signs of PTSD, along with the quick thinking and personal will required to pursue her goal. Promising Young Woman comes to mind as The Driver slips in and out of using doe eyed, girlish charm to disarm officers and male townsfolk, and Revenge comes to memory as well, a lovely young woman on a hellish quest for justice. Carmichael is a game leading lady, taking on most of the stunts you see in the film herself including some wild driving and fighting that takes her performance over the top in terms of commitment. Her relationship with The Hitchhiker is a fascinating one to watch evolve from perfect strangers, to friends, and past that point, balancing the emotional capabilities of two people who lack trust. The two do an excellent job with not so much as names to create chemistry, keeping you invested in the mile markers passing by and what the destination truly means to both passengers. Speaking of cast, Danielle Harris (of Halloween 4 & 5 fame) stops in for a small role as a local, Allison, gracing us with some true old school 1980s glory.
Editing and music are particularly efficient in the way they’re used. Songs on the radio make for excellent transitions and the untraceable rock and pop songs seem to place us right in the time period. Clever editing pulls you back and forth between the police hunt and the journey in the red car. You’ll have plenty of chases, mysteries, and surprises to keep you interested, as Carmichael said when asked, this is a full throttle movie that doesn’t take its foot off the gas pedal. Explosions and compound fractures are part of the territory with this thriller, using practical effects to make some nasty looking wounds and create some impressive pyrotechnics when the time comes. As a whole, this thriller is a fair watch, sitting shotgun to these two characters as we are supposed to be merely passengers on this journey with them, absorbing the story as well as the intensity. If you’re looking for an off the rails revenge flick to start off the New Year, look no further than Roadkill, boasting killer leads, an emotional and literal journey to partake in, and action from start to finish.
Roadkill (2024) will be available on VOD from January 5th.
My first year at Warped Perspective is coming to an end. Wow. Thanks to this site, I’ve gotten to review some absolutely remarkable films from the mainstream to the indie darling. Of these many, many titles, I wanted to select five that stood out to me: not all horror, not all feature length either, but films that brought power, messaging, strong writing, well rounded performances, and the subtle touches that lights, camera, and effects can use to bring story to life. Here is my top five list comprised of features, limited release, independent, non-horror and short films for 2023.
Everybody Dies by the End
Playing to my favorite horror trick—the practical effect, Everybody Dies by the End was an indie sensation that was both hilarious and horrific and had me both gasping for breath as I laughed and gasping as I watched the blood pour. In this mockumentary feature, director Ian Tripp pulls triple duty, directing, writing, and starring in the film as the starry-eyed filmmaker following a disheveled, fallen filmmaking icon in making his magnum opus. Alfred Costella (Vinny Curran) is the high voltage splatter director that is brought down by a “gotcha” interview and spirals into a place where he ceases to make movies, until he reaches out to young Calvin (Tripp), to document the making of his new, and final, film entry, Everybody Dies by the End. This title is everything you could hope for, laced with neuroses, insanity and cult style implications.
With no special effects and limited costuming, you’d think this movie could easily be a bust with no meat to bite down on. The purpose of both Costella’s movie and Tripp’s film is to highlight the absolute magic that is the world of practical effects, making a salient point that you can make a stunning picture on nothing but a practical budget coupled with smart casting. Vinny Curran is a man on fire in this film: he is so mesmerizing, from his foul mouth to his psychedelic or simplistic ideas about how movies operate and how they should be made—especially horror. Curran is hilarious, erratic, convincing and makes you forget sometimes that Tripp is even there behind the mockumentary lens, he’s such an artistic train wreck. With shots that we’ve all seen before in our favorite horror films here on display for the production (fake knives, prosthetics, spray machines, etc.), this film is an educational breakdown of how some of your favorite shots, like the arterial spray to the face, get done.
Peppered with references to some famous, controversial directors and a storyline that doesn’t get heavy with tropes or clichés, the film gets right to the point and the title makes big promises, but it delivers. As I mentioned in my review, I have no idea where this film could have ended up if it had a Hollywood budget but stuck to its practical premise, but no doubt we would be covered in even more blood and gore. Regardless, I cannot wait until this film is more widely available to the public and I hope they see the efforts and strain that the cast and crew went through, especially the effects and casting department, to assemble a group with the right amount of chemistry and attitude to execute this indie darling and make it one of my favorite films of the year.
Renfield
Still currently sitting at a ‘Rotten’ score on the RT-meter, when I first watched this film my expectations were low, considering the middling critic opinion. When I was through, however, I was a diehard fan of the film and ready to write a review to defend against this film’s opponents to the end. Director Chris McKay’s Renfield is the story of one of Dracula’s most famous familiars, a bug-eating servant torn straight from the pages of Bram Stoker’s novel. While paying tribute to the original beast, Nicolas Cage puts on the performance of a lifetime as the uproarious, narcissistic Dracula, dressed like a rock and roll icon down to the snakeskin boots and top hat. He vacillates between hateful and delightful, tormenting the low self-esteem of an equally hilarious Nicholas Hoult, who is shouldering the bad fashion and social instincts of the one hundred-year-old subordinate, Renfield. With an incredible cast of supporting characters (the co-dependency support group alone is a star-studded affair bubbling over with talent), the comedy, tragedy and horror are delivered with charm and terror.
From the effects to the soundtrack, nothing was overlooked to create a unique modern mood for a tale as old as time. Songs like Carmen’s Habanera highlight fight scenes and Lizzo’s music highlights some self-care montages that bring Renfield into this century. Special and practical effects budgets get blown through the roof: priests inhale Dracula’s essence and explode, severed arms are used as weapons and there are gallons of blood and pounds of cocaine. Dracula floats, turns into bats, and Renfield is his own force to be reckoned with too, providing a masterclass in hand to hand combat, once he gets a few insects in his system. Pure entertainment value.
While Renfield might not be everyone’s Dracula film, I’m happy to call it my Dracula film, especially recently. Given the presence of other films penning stories based on Stoker’s work, like The Last Voyage of the Demeter, it’s been a pick your flavor season when it comes to The Count. But, while Demeter opted to be a monochromatic work of history, right down to its own feral looking and acting vampire, Renfield is a gorgeous, colorful, modern take on the legend, with more name and budget power behind its characters. To stick with these two examples, where we have a historical drama compared with a comedy, but it all depends how seriously you want to take your vampires, and for me, lightening a historically drab and serious bloodsucking figure and adding such personality was a winning combination. All these qualities make this a story to resonate with this generation’s horror fans, with more blood and laughs than the costume dramas we are used to. Renfield’s a fresh story to this critic, and I still stand by it at the year’s end.
With Love and a Major Organ
Director Kim Albright brought to the table the only non-horror film I think deserved a ranking and distinction on this list. This was perhaps the most emotional watch of the year for me, bringing heartfelt and inventive concepts to a truly well-written script from Julia Lederer. This film brought about the idea that our hearts are nearly outdated, that feelings don’t have much use in the world, and numbness is a point of pride. Anatomical hearts have been replaced by everyday objects: a paper star, a vase of flowers, whatever you believe belongs at your core. While bringing heaps of dry humor to the table to ideally balance the powerful messaging, my heartstrings were tugged as the crew put together a totally unique emotional journey through a world, somewhat like our own, that rejects human feeling.
Our two leading characters, George (Hamza Haq) and Anabel (Anna Macquire) take charge and show immense range and depth as performers. Anabel, once a very reactive, emotional and thoughtful girl, chooses to give her heart away after one too many heartbreaks, sending it to George to see what use he can put it to. As the two swap moods from George’s flat, monotone, initial representation, to his new life with an active emotional heart, Anabel becomes more the steady heartbeat while George ebbs and flows with its pulse, enjoying the world in a way he’s never experienced it before: with feeling. His childlike delight in the simplest pleasures and his gentle kindness drew tears to my eyes, reminding me that while feelings may be inconvenient, they allow us the human experience, and even a level-headed, heartless Anabel realizes her previous state was more desirable than the comfort of perpetual numbness.
Bathed in beautiful lighting to create atmospheric mood, this film is a pleasure to look at as well as listen to. Tiny shots at modern therapy or ideas such as “The Little House of Big Feelings” show how much we try to tug on the reins of our feelings and put them under control for societal betterment (or mostly just because people seem to get uncomfortable with emotion these days). Creativity abounds in this universe, supported by interesting characters and a concept I had ever seen explored. If you can get a ticket or stream, this title it is one of the most outstanding pieces of art and emotion I’ve seen this year; I found it a profound exploration of the human condition and at a modest runtime you won’t get lost, except maybe to wonder where the time has gone, as this is a truly enjoyable, moving film.
Cobweb
In good company with Renfield, sitting ‘Rotten’ in RT critics’ eyes (though ‘Fresh’ on the audience score), the Rotten Tomatoes synopsis cryptically reads as neither here nor there: “This itsy-bitsy horror film creeps and crawls.” Sitting on mixed reviews and derived loosely from the Edgar Allan Poe short “The Tell-Tale Heart,” director Samuel Bodin makes tip-tapping on the wall and things that go bump in the night themes which permeate this childlike tale of innocence lost. The story is of a young boy, Peter, isolated at school, misunderstood at home, that one night finds that a tapping in his wall which is not just rats scuttling about, but attached to the voice of a young girl. Now torn between the warnings of his parents and the undeniable truths being told by the child in the wall, Peter has to start acting with more bravado than he usually does, and start deciding who to trust.
Lizzie Caplan and Antony Starr are the two names that will draw the most attention on the cast bill, but I believe between Peter (Woody Norman) and Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman) we have our two true stars. Caplan is robotic and cold as the distant but overprotective mother, and Starr is similarly frigid and mechanical, loveless and stone faced to the very end. Peter evolves from victim, to victimizer, to unwitting pawn, being woven in and out of people’s desires for his future—or how he can play into their own. Miss Devine grows from sheepish educator to ferocious protector, acting more like a young mother, sensing and reading Peter’s signals and responding like a superhero.
While some viewers said the ending act went off the rails and Cobweb herself was silly or strange, I say – look to some of the inspiration that turned up on screen when our title… character, I’ll call her, reveals herself. With expensive special effects and an homage to Linda Blair’s spider walk, I think, despite the all-around mayhem and suspension of disbelief, Cobweb is a flexing, clawing, multifaceted character you could relate to in some ways, while still finding her perfectly unnerving and unpredictable.
With little marketing prior to a limited release in theaters across the country, coupled with competing in the same month and vein as the horror phenomenon Talk to Me, I’m not surprised that this picture, even from a large studio, went mostly unnoticed. However, with an easy runtime, a story rooted in historic fiction, with rising young actors alongside well-traveled veterans, you could stand to make room for this under-loved, but to me, one of the best value gems of the year. With tricky antagonists lurking left and right and a sliding scale of good and evil put into play, making you question which choice of life for Peter is worse, you’ll be searching for a lifeline through the whole movie while deciding which character you have the most trust issues with. Certainly, a creepy, crawly little movie, let it wrap its limbs around you and tell you a modern version of a familiar favorite.
Sweet Tooth (short)
The cruelty of girls is unmatched and in Sweet Tooth we find a perfect tale of treachery battling against us with claws and teeth. Director Josephine Darcy Hopkins creates a testament to the infighting in the female gender and how early an age it begins, with stars Lou Deleuze as Madeleine and a returning favorite from another short film favorite of mine, Transylvanie, Katell Varvat. Madeleine is a young, lower middle-class girl on a work trip with her mother who does spa treatments for the wealthy. Shuttled away to the basement, she finds a group of similarly aged girls playing, led by the shark-eyed Eugenie (Varvat). “The Queen’s Game” is to occupy provinces in a kingdom and reach the center castle by paying in and taking turns. However, there’s a nasty price to pay to get into this circle and the game isn’t free either. These privileged girls are playing with real money, and Madeleine will have to find value in anything she has to offer—how gruesome this gets, you’ll need to see for yourself.
Soft lighting, pastel colors, the delicate crust on a sweet cherry pie; the visuals in this glamorous little piece are stunning and create a childlike ambiance while leaving room for savagery. Varvat is a star, I’m already convinced, confident beyond her years and delivering a cruel but compelling role as the antagonist. All those starring did everything they needed to in order to make this feel like a trap for poor Madeleine, pushed away from the grownups, painfully isolated amongst her peers. This atmospheric lesson on how far bullying can go and the extent of the will of an underdog makes for a tense watch that builds to a satisfying finish, that goes down like just desserts.
This intense debut fresh out of South Korea from writer and director Kim Jae-hoon brings us a thrilling, colorful, and bloody tale of body swapping mayhem in Devils. We open to a group of smiling fiends painting a dead woman while dismembering her and videotaping it. Two police officers approach the scene, one slightly ahead of his partner, attracting attention. When the man’s partner Jae-hwan (Oh Dae-hwan) arrives late, though, the officer is already mortally wounded, leaving our officer calling for help as credits open. We discover in the morgue this loss isn’t just of a partner, but his brother-in-law, leading him to swear he’d do anything to catch the killer. With four names in hand, the police department is closing in on a ring of serial killers that publish their killings to a snuff forum. There are eight posted videos, monitored over the dark web, but the police fear there are more unposted films and wonder what the true body count could be. Then the phone rings in the office, an apparent tip regarding the killer, sending the entire force into action and prompting Jae-hwan to offer caution to his new partner, Min-seong (Jae-ho Jang). They arrive to another abandoned, brightly painted location with a dismembered woman awaiting them when the lights begin to strobe: a distraction.
A high-speed car chase ensues, with Jae-hwan in hot pursuit, maneuvering the killer’s vehicle off of the main road. Somehow taking the crash easily, the chase continues on foot where the officers are ambushed in the woods, leaving Jae-hwan to run down the killer, falling out of sight. As night descends, Min-seong can’t find where the suspect went down, leading to the force blocking off the area and dividing into search parties. Soon, we see one month has passed; even with grids and search dogs there is still no trace, and amidst the search, more victims are piling up. Receiving a message to call the search off, as the killings have continued, it’s clear their resources have been tied up.
After wrapping up the search and recruiting new teams, the captain takes has a cigarette outside when an SUV comes screaming down the street and crashes nearby. Inside are the unconscious bodies of Jae-hwan, handcuffed on the passenger side, and the killer, Jin-hyeok (Jang Dong-yoon) in the driver’s seat. Awaking in a hospital, we hear Jae-hwan’s thoughts, but find him handcuffed and residing in the body of the killer, now in a full-blown panic and soon sedated. In another room, however, Jin-hyeok is quietly waking up in his new body, and seems to find it a convenient fit. With some reported memory loss, but no visible brain damage, it appears the wrong man is about to be sent back into the world with no one the wiser.
Beginning with a sorrowful death, this tragedy turns into a two-faced revenge thriller with an innocent man trying to convince the world around him that appearances aren’t always what they seem. Lighting and camera work do wonders at creating blacklight abattoirs and red-bathed torture chambers, to gray and green muted police offices and hospital rooms, all shot with a sense of urgency and intimacy as violence and secrets are contemplated. The pace alters between the slow burn of the unraveling mystery, and the ramped-up scenes of brutality or police involvement that keep the necessary tension alive in this thrilling, horror-action mashup. Compared to the likes of Face/Off and Oldboy, I think perhaps the film Americans would most recently associate this with is the 2020 Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton body swapping picture, Freaky.
Jang Dong-yoon and Oh Dae-whan play both their characters convincingly, switching attitudes from the passionate, high-strung cop to the apathetic, dead eyed murderer, with both performers delivering the right amount of energy in their respective tricky scenario. Jang Dong-yoon does an especially impressive job working both the criminals in his circle and trying to convince a very open, eager, and innocent Min-seong of his knowledge and his identity. Seeing the killer nesting with the unsuspecting members of Jae-hwan’s family and watching the officer slowly infiltrate and use his new façade to extract information are taut exchanges that can keep you on edge and makes you keen to discover a secret you’re waiting to be unveiled. Practical effects and makeup work well from the smallest facial wounds, to a brutal beat down with a pipe, to total or partial dismemberment (sometimes with gardening clippers); fight scenes, deaths and a generally bloody exchange make this a delightfully gory and action-packed watch. The method by which they catch the ring of criminals may make you tilt your head, but flashbacks and a shocking ending make this a treacherous road to follow, with plenty of surprises and some misdirection.
With mountains of style and talent, the secrets of this film and its characters will cut through you like a hatchet, so long as you can handle some of the intentional pacing leading to a stunning climax that will leave your mind wandering. Now streaming on Screambox, catch the electrifying body swapping feature Devils at your leisure.
A dry, depressing news cast on Halloween night, 1998, opens this Irish horror comedy, Haunted Ulster Live. Covering the troubled parts of Northern Ireland, exploring folklore, and rediscovering network television, writer and director Dominic O’Neill creates a nostalgic experience with his first film while reliving the ghost hunting shows of yore. It’s inspired by the 1992 television phenomenon Ghostwatch, a British mockumentary show debuting on Halloween night of that year that had millions calling in to the BBC to question, praise or condemn this non-traditional programming; I’d say this hit the mark in this homage, giving a nod to this frenzy the show created.
As a newscast ends, we are brought into an attic with a DJ where the show Haunted Ulster Live is being announced. The hosts of this show are Gerry Burns (Mark Claney) and Michelle Kelly (Aimee Richardson). A TV show like no other, Gerry introduces a “house like no other,” 13 Castle Gardens, warning this may be too much for the faint of heart. Apparently, this is a true haunting, with something tormenting the occupants, the McKillen family. Michelle is staying in the “Ghost Tent,” accompanied by some members of the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association, with plenty of equipment to catch supernatural activity. If you’ve seen Insidious or The Conjuring you’ll likely recognize some of the techniques the group is using to try to capture a spirit on film.
Gerry sits down with the McKillen family: matriarch Sarah (Siobhan Kelly), eldest son Stephen (Jay Lowey) and young daughter Rose (Libby McBride), having a very 90s talk show moment including some dramatization of the alleged events in the house. Sarah begins to tell Gerry about the phenomena; starting in November, she noticed black, disappearing footprints in the kitchen, heard noises when no one was home, and – after Gerry checks Sarah’s sanity – he suddenly turns to something Stephen’s teacher brought up: Blackfoot Jack, an old local legend of a child taker. They hear footsteps which have begun moving up the stairs and Sarah believes there’s something wrong with the attic where DJ Declan (Dan Leith) is stationed. Rose has supposedly begun sleepwalking and talking towards the attic, and Sarah says that since the girl was young she seemed to sense things. Just as Gerry is making his reassurances to find this entity, the group is stirred by a loud noise to find the family’s pots and pans are scattered – a new issue, Sarah notes, and Gerry’s name and a number has been carved into the wall. Scepticism abounds with both the hosts and their crew though, with guesses being taken at who caused the commotion for show, the children being labelled suspects.
After a brief technical break, the show returns to introduce the two ghost hunters joining them in contacting spirits: Robert Pratt (Dave Fleming) and Sinead Love (Antoinette Morelli). Robert believes in attempting to find explanations for the paranormal while breathing life back into Druidic knowledge. Sinead has a gentler touch, believing the dead have earned their rest. She can hear the cries of those restless undead. Knowing the power of loss, she yearns to help the spirits, and those that they contact, to find peace. As the ghost hunters arrive, both, especially Sinead, feel overwhelmed by a presence they claim doesn’t welcome them there. Gerry asks Sinead, as she’s an open channel to the dead, what she’s felt and she claims not only to feel anger and loss, but that she’s already in contact with the male spirit who has delivered her one word: Mirabel.
Clear but simple enough camerawork from director of photography Conor Losty plants us right in the 1990s in a somehow fresh, but still cloudy screen like most TV shows were back then, right down to the bad furniture store commercials and stranger danger infomercials. O’Neill creates a feeling of closeness within the house and the tent, compacting our characters into their places and making the house feel like the trap it supposedly is. The mockumentary lens lends itself to some great B-roll footage of conversations between characters and the changing ideology they are experiencing as the haunting escalates in its fervor. Characters are played pitch perfectly, from the smarmy hosts to the enthusiastic believers they are using to contact the dead; the chemistry is excellent from conflict to comedy and no one misses a step, keeping their characters animated and evolving through the terrors. The story tracks not only old folklore, intricate legends and some dubious history, but many of the modern trappings of ghost hunting and paranormal research (fainting from the power of the spirits, seances, etc.). Additionally, it covers the frenzy people have developed for getting on camera including human interest bits and classic “unreliable eye witness neighbors” to discuss shady claims sowed in belief and rumor, marrying the past and present nicely.
I don’t think I was even alive when Ghostwatch debuted and as an American viewer, Ghostwatch didn’t land the same cultural impact as it did in the UK, but from my research and after viewing this film, I feel like I might like it. O’Neill is faithful to the silliness and seriousness of the old broadcasts that put audiences in a frenzy, getting creative with practical effects, excellent lighting, and strong acting in a haunting that could make even a sceptic tilt their heads. Both tribute and triumph, this mighty little film and its compact runtime is a lovely watch calling back to the media of the past. An endearing debut that brings mockumentary fun to an already stirring idea, I think cast and crew come together well to design a time capsule of horror and the beginnings of reality television – still being delivered to us – with a surprising ending. A chilling story with no extra fat, I think this is a flawless homage to a past, niche horror phenomenon I’ve never seen done before that has been brought to life with passion and authenticity.
Haunted Ulster Live (2023) is hoping to confirm US and international premieres very soon.
Beginning with a series of monotonous types of travel it takes to reach a vacation, Do Not Disturb opens with beautiful imagery of a bustling Miami. Director and writer John Ainslie designs this film’s vision, inviting a listless couple into the sexy, steamy town to stay for a vacation. Chloe (Kimberly Laferriere) and Jack (Rogan Christopher) seem to be in a down swing after their recent nuptials. While Chloe is chatting away and in awe of the title of being someone’s wife, Jack is huffy, quiet, and doesn’t seem engaged, even when there’s a particularly chatty couple in their hotel lobby trying to make plans with them. As they unpack, Jack is more interested in acquiring some party favors as he opens their complimentary wine, discussing getting some cocaine or marijuana from one of the workers. As the talk gets more serious we see that Jack’s previous drug habits, combined with a recent miscarriage, are putting immense strain on the two, and Jack’s hesitancy at becoming a father isn’t helping, causing more arguing.
Lunch with the couple from the lobby starts uncomfortably enough, but things take a turn into the absurd. The couple are swingers looking for another pair to party with, but Jack has promises to take Chloe to the beach. While sitting on the sand by the water, the arguing continues and here this feels more like an interpersonal relationship drama instead of a horror film. They meet the couple back and their room where the festivities become too much for Jack as they are fed cocaine laced with ecstasy and as he watches Chloe dance with another man. This takes them into another venomous argument in the room.
Morning breaks and so do the hangovers, as the couple hems and haws about heading to the beach that morning, between apologies. When they arrive at the beach the talk turns sad and serious again, until a man near them rouses and begins yelling. He starts screaming and walking around the beach until he approaches Jack and Chloe, hysterical and shouting nonsense. He starts throwing bags of narcotics on the ground in front of them, saying how it opens your mind but doesn’t show you how to shut it: these are various substances, designer drugs, peyote, cocaine, all from Mexico. The man abandons his stash and walks out into the ocean, disappearing, with no one attempting to save him in his delirious state. With the choice to sell or use the drugs in their possession, the couple faces another crossroads to either grow up, or continue down a different less certain path, and use them to get closer somehow with the use of peyote.
Camera work and editing is in high gear here, with cinematographer Scott McIntyre firing on all cylinders to create a trippy alternate reality for the couple as they spin out on their drug-fueled adventures or creating something as simple as a sense of claustrophobia in a hotel room you’re sharing with less than desirable company. The psychedelic effects created work well to transport you into the journey our characters are taking and interesting ideas of what would happen on a trip this intense are explored, as well as exploring the dark corners of abusive relationships. Lights change from the burning whites of the sun to colorful rave strobing and lend themselves to the sultry, saturated landscape that is Miami nightlife. Performances all around are convincing, especially the complicated dynamic of our main couple. Rogan Christopher does an excellent job at making you resent his presence in the film and is the hard headed, sex motivated, loose cannon we can’t really root for as he pulls Chloe and her dreams down to his level. His borderline rapist and felon behavior is tiresome and some of their conversations will make you wonder if you’re watching the abusive, narcotics version of A Marriage Story for certain portions.
If you can handle a slow beginning (Do Not Disturb takes its time, especially in the first half) the film ramps up for some more brutal and horror-centric ideas away from the consistent relationship talk. I can see some people arguing this isn’t particularly scary or horrific, but more of a drama or thriller from its beginnings, but when we turn from carnal to cannibal I have to say things pick up the pace and there is skin in the game for both characters, literally and figuratively. I’ll have to say this is a watch for the patient viewer, as Ainslie’s previous directing credits lean towards the dissolution of relationships such as his piece The Sublet, showing he is interested in not just horror but the human experience. This may not hook you immediately, but if you can push through the initial bickering and deliberate pace, you may end up invested in the marriage and not just how things will crumble during the horror. A relationship drama turned trippy, hungering, fever dream, Do Not Disturb goes from a slow boil to an unsettling watch, with plenty of themes and messaging about destructive relationships and how we consume ourselves in them.
Do Not Disturb (2022) is available on VOD from today, 21st November 2023.
Directed by Samuel Gonzalez Jr. and Matthew Hersh with writing from Gonzalez Jr. and Gigi Gustin, Night of the Missing is an unnerving anthology entry now available to stream on Screambox. While other anthology features like Creepshow and V/H/S connect their stories via media, in their cases comics and video tapes respectively, our stories are strung together and connected by a board of missing persons posters. Opening with strong imagery, we see a bloody squad car that takes us away into opening credits, where we enter with a powerful zoom shot on a police station weathering a stormy Christmas Eve. As the evening custodian leaves the cell block, he comes upon a woman (Jill Awbrey), hands dripping with blood, sobbing for the sheriff. The sheriff (Meredith Thomas) arrives to deal with the woman and dismisses the janitor home for the evening, after his shock at seeing the stranger.
The Woman, initially, is not overly talkative, appears shocked, and drenched to the bone with no makeup or jewelry, not even shoes. The Woman finally utters that she’s there to report a missing person, suddenly standing and beginning to survey the wall of missing posters. “So many,” she notes, have just vanished. The sheriff continues to scribble away, coldly saying that hundreds of thousands of people go missing every year. But The Woman stops on the image of a child, Joey Gonzalez, causing the sheriff to snap her pencil; The Woman continues saying she can still hear the echoes of the past, loose change and music jingling as she imagines the boy’s final moments… leading us right into Joey’s freezer.
Young Joey (Joseph Jojo Martinez) wants dessert, and despite his mother’s dismissal, is caught hands deep in the candy jar when a television showing a creepy clown ice cream truck boots to life, inviting him in. He turns off the cartoon but the jingle continues, and then, parked right outside Joey’s front door is a singing, happy little ice cream truck. With all the treats lit up but no one appearing to be inside, is Joey the one looking for treats, or is he the apple of someone else’s eye?
We are then back at the police station where a sceptical sheriff doubts The Woman’s knowledge, but Joey was only the beginning. Ignoring the sheriff’s requests of who she’s there to report, the woman moves to a photo of Tammy Wright (Gigi Gustin) who supposedly took a phone call she would come to regret. Tammy looks like a happy go lucky twentysomething jamming to tunes and cleaning her place one evening. It appears Tammy is not alone in her home though, and is oblivious due to the music, stopping it only when she feels a creeping up her spine. She listens to a message begging her to come home, if she can hear it; it’s her mother, whom she bids goodnight when the message is done playing. A well-loved happy girl, with her lights flickering menacingly, we can only imagine the forces at play that could pull her spirit away without a trace.
With Tammy’s story told, we revisit the sheriff and The Woman, who turns again to another poster, Lila Cameron (Jenna Kanell), and we are whisked into classical music being played by a custodian. Hearing cries for help over the music, he leaves his work and finds the screaming is coming from a model train set in the middle of the other room. Two women, both miniature in stature are struggling along the road, carrying gasoline. Eyed by stiff-moving models that populate the set, one woman succumbs to her injuries and passes away, but Lila carries on, dumping gas on the toy town as she crawls along in bare feet. You’ll have to watch and see how these little women came to be, and how they came to be forgotten…
And with one last missing poster, we meet Will Rainier (Justin Miles), the man who had true love. Sat in front of a Ouija board, his ankle monitor beeping away, is Will, trying to contact a passed loved one, a woman, glimpsed from a photograph. Lost love, lost freedom, and now a lost man. This is where I’ll leave the story.
The missing posters are a clever and effective device to keep the already fast-paced and condensed tale moving at breakneck speed. Four perfectly creepy, sad or mysterious tales are packed into the overarching tale of the sheriff’s office, and I would call them all intriguing. The most frightening, in my opinion, is certainly the entry “We All Scream” with little Joey Gonzalez, offering chilling effects and lighting to create a simple but creepy story. The portion “Miniature” featuring Terrifier and Renfield’s Jenna Kanell is an interesting feature that had me thinking about how’s and why’s, and I loved the camera work that pushed and pulled, back and forth, between a small, disturbing, false suburban world and our own imperfectly large one. The cast is overall quite strong and features some names you’ll recognize and some convincing performances. No two stories track the same way so each entry is special, providing us all the possibilities and nightmare fuel the film can to explain the impossible phenomenon of missing people, simply vanished.
The sheriff and The Woman do their part in creating the vessel that holds all of the stories, keeping us invested and hurrying us along to our conclusion. But I can’t say some of you won’t be disappointed at the ending, potentially. With so much revealed and so many secrets laid bare, it was a shame that it all seemed to end so abruptly. Regardless, the journey is the destination and I enjoyed being shown my way through the halls of the many missing and the terrifying or curious stories of how they came to disappear. This compact thriller is streaming now for your easy viewing pleasure with many a fascinating story and no excess fat. A lean treat with plenty to follow, watch this on Screambox now.
Inspired by the darkness lurking in Victoria U Bell’s own past, Heir of the Witch (2023) is a solidly told tale of witchcraft, love, class and destiny. Drawing on her own experiences and family stories, Bell directed this feature and wrote the script with the added task of starring as its lead. A deeply intimate project, you get a sense of personal investment as well as a creative journey through folklore and both gothic and supernatural horror elements. It effectively creates an eerie atmosphere and a story of witchcraft from a lesser explored region of the world. Working with love, the burdens of womanhood, and the fear of trying to outrun the blood in your veins, Heir of the Witch tells a winning tale of shadowy, familial bonds which truly cannot be broken.
In Moldovan folklore, witches are creatures born of a “bad death,” cursed to reawaken from the grave and torment their living relatives until they perish. This curse is passed exclusively through female blood, and the young and willing are to pick up and wield the power that comes with this curse, but others choose to reject their destiny. Awoken from a nightmare about her mother, Anna (Victoria U Bell), calls out for her. Plagued with more visions out of bed, more demonic in nature, her trance is interrupted as she hears someone calling to her and we see Anna is caretaker to her bedridden aunt, Rosie (Vanessa Neff). Anna fearfully tells her aunt that “she” is back, and her aunt says she’s aware; this malevolent female entity is growing stronger as Rosie weakens, and the two fear at Anna’s readiness to confront it.
We swap scenes to a manicured, upper-class birthday party for “friend” and client Chloe (Deanna Rashell). The setting causes Anna to have flashbacks to her own lonely birthday party, where an old, cloaked woman gifted her a pair of scissors. Awkward and under-dressed now, Anna hasn’t yet made an impression on high society for anything except her work as a seamstress, and the women at the party have a cruel attitude towards her, while the men later prove they see her as just a plaything. Awkwardly interacting with Chloe’s husband Nicholas (Ben Holtzmuller), Anna is goaded into a dance with him, where he explains the couple’s connection to old money, as he is a wealth manager. The couple later discusses setting Anna up with Nicholas’ business partner. Themes like this class divide provide a more interesting, realistic aspect to Anna’s story and make her a player in life, just as much as she is a pawn in this curse. Anna departs the celebration, encountering a cloaked woman on the road asking for change, her voice and appearance suddenly morphing into a something sinister, warning that someone is coming for Anna before the woman disappears.
The next day, while working at her sewing machine, Anna is interrupted by Rosie calling to her, looking quite frail. She urges Anna to stay strong in the lord as a shadow approaches the room, and for a moment it appears Rose may have slipped away, until a pounding at the door startles them both back to reality. The visitor is surprisingly Nicholas, asking about tailoring clothes for men, and as he and Anna talk, we see a cloaked visitor slip in to visit Rose. Nicholas notices a strange family photo where Anna’s grandmother’s face is covered: she apparently never wanted to have her photo taken, and it’s revealed Anna’s mother passed when she was only 14. Anna later finds herself daydreaming of kissing Nicholas during their fitting, eventually sitting to talk with him more and entertaining his proposal of a dinner setup. Leaving to pick up a friend’s children, Anna sees the entity again in her car mirror, and it seems there’s something getting closer to her by the day.
Cleanly shot and smartly lit, this film is a pleasure to look at and without breaking the bank on effects ,still manages to sting you with some creepy imagery and some bloody surprises. Victoria U Bell throws herself into this passion project completely as the earnest, frightened but determined Anna and gives a performance that pays homage to her own story with her own voice, portrayed as she intended. The overarching themes such as class and womanhood help create a more complex narrative to Anna’s life, making her a flesh and blood person affected by the world she can touch, just as much as she’s affected by the ethereal darkness she can’t. This human touch is certainly a product of Bell’s own feelings of being attached to darkness, and her sense of heaviness and dread she’s said she carried for some time.
The witches and the curse itself are malevolent, delivering some well-crafted frights and designing a disturbing façade to fit the demonic sorceress bill. This shapeshifting omnipresent feminine force of will comes from mysterious origins from a country hardly mentioned, Moldova, and traces interesting bloodlines back to an early and interesting culture. Anna’s origins are unravelled slowly as her choices shape her destiny and the fates of those she comes into contact with, sometimes damning them to the witch’s wrath. With stunning revelations revealed and an ending, this is equal parts terrifying and tragic. This dense story of love and burden has all its loose ends tied up fittingly as though it were done by a seamstress.
A salient debut for Bell’s directorial talents, her cathartic piece carves out pieces of her own history while telling the story of long growing evil: it is perfectly effective while still harboring surprises. Make sure to screen this fresh piece on witchcraft and be ready to follow many threads to a shocking but fitting release.
Most of us have humble beginnings, even followers of the devil. Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023) is a campy, kooky tribute to the Dark Lord and a wild ride to save your soul. Our director Andrew Bowser also penned this creative script and is front and center as Onyx himself, bringing his story to life with the bizarre cadence and nervous energy of a budding Satanist. Now streaming on Screambox, this tells the story of a misfit with no future in sight, but Onyx is suddenly blessed to meet his Satan worshipping icon amongst a group of likeminded followers. However, when souls are up for grabs and Onyx starts to discover who he was truly meant to be, will he surrender to the demon for all his desires to be fulfilled? Or will he have a change of heart, as those that follow this path fall one by one? The least confident or wise among them will be chosen to rise and challenge the forces of darkness, not merely as Marcus the Patty Slinger, but Onyx the Fortuitous.
Onyx the Fortuitous (Andrew Bowser), also known as Marcus but not preferred, is a fledgling Satanist and a devout follower of the Dark Lord and his earthly master and Satanist guide, Bartok the Great. Having purchased all the books, vinyl and classes his mother will allow, Onyx feels ready to apply for a special demonic ritual which his master is holding for five of his most devoted followers. We see Onyx, his mother and stepfather don’t see eye to eye, possibly ever, and he’s living perhaps his worst life slinging grease at Marty’s Meat Hut. Having to serve bullies that humiliate him publicly and tolerating ridicule from his boss, Onyx hasn’t yet made many waves in the outside world, causing him to quit his job one unbearable evening. He tearfully prays to God, or the devil, whoever might be listening, that they give him a better life than the one he has now, and just as he makes this plea, his computer lights up. A congratulations email has arrived, and it appears Onyx is a winner for the getaway competition.
Onyx will be joining his master and other followers at a retreat where they will try and summon the demon Abaddon. The next day, in front of a beautiful brick red mansion, Onyx and four other dressed-to-kill followers are ready for their ritual, and excited to arrive. While three of the others quickly peel off to explore, Onyx is left with MacKenzie, or Mack (Rivkah Reyes), the first to respect his desire to be called his chosen moniker. The group gets to the front door where a note informs them that talismans made of peridot have been left to cleanse them of negative energies or spirits, and they will have to leave a personal offering of a single item in a box outside to ground their energies to the home.
They discover a corpse upon entry, and a video tape that begins to play on its own: the image of their master Bartok the Great (Jeffrey Combs, in all his greatness) appears on screen. The body is that of Bartok, knife in his chest with no pulse, and the group’s first test is to invoke power and raise the man from the dead. With chants to the sky the group declares “Let him rise!” and the corpse comes to life, Bartok himself now greeting the group. This weekend, Bartok says, is for three rituals: the first two as preparation, the final to bring Abaddon to earth and make them all disciples of the demon, granted knowledge and immortality. Tonight, is for making merry; tomorrow, they begin their journey towards rebirth.
With an over the top music selection from Matt Mahaffey and excellent costumes by Arthur Oliver, this movie has the proper tone and mood for a dark comedy saluting the devil. The group of five worshippers are perfectly interesting with Mack and Mr. Duke (Terrence T.C. Carson) making for some curious troublemakers in search of power and knowledge. You have plenty of characters besides the eccentric Onyx to root for. The cast is devoted to their roles and plays them faithfully, with a sleeper in Olivia Taylor Dudley as the clairvoyant and powerful Farrah, stone faced and all-knowing, as Bowser stays the oddball in the bunch, standing out with his batty mannerisms and newscaster style delivery of his lines. Humor and hellishness go hand in hand here as we see that the joke is on the visitors, with some very powerful (and not so powerful, in Onyx’s case) labels attributed to them and each promised a place in the inner circle, belonging. The theme of temptation and the use of lore from Satanism and other sources such as metaphysical religions (crystals, elixirs, etc.) create an interesting history and ritual to follow other than the back-to-basics God against the devil, Christian backstory.
With campy but effective makeup and practical effects to create splatter and demons of various sorts, the production team drums up a set filled with ghouls and magic as our director leaves us references throughout with favorites from Chucky to Beetlejuice. Friendship and faith are heart-warming themes that pierce the dark veil and bring together people from different walks of life, to navigate a maze of traps and tricks designed to ensnare their souls. If you can handle the initial camp and some of Onyx’s… interesting thoughts and feelings, including a tribute to Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love,” keep the crazy in mind when you boot this up so you’re not surprised when things swap from dreary to droll. With a fortuitous leading man and a cast and crew that achieves campy synergy, Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is a hell of a good time, more comedy than horror, but delivering surprises, humor and consistent pacing as you race towards a heart and soul stealing conclusion.
Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023) is available on Screambox now.
