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Movie review: What Josiah Saw (2022)

02 Tuesday Aug 2022

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At first glance, there’s enough interest gathered from the cast of What Josiah Saw alone, with two of the top-billed actors Robert Patrick and Nick Stahl, and even Jake Weber in a supporting role. Each of them do a fair amount of  heavy lifting on screen, pulling out all the stops to generate interest out of their characters and not isolate them to two-dimensional representations. The premise is also one that further builds intrigue, placing a family reuniting at their farmhouse, after a lucrative offer is placed on it, but why have they become so estranged from one another? And what secrets do they hope to remain buried?

Each member of the family is awarded their own chapter of the storyline before the afore-mentione coming together at the farmhouse. It starts with the father, Josiah (Patrick) and his son Thomas (Scott Haze), the latter appears to be trying to look after the upkeep of the abode, but there is something aloof about the way the two engage with one another that doesn’t quite fit, which becomes all too apparent by the films’ conclusion.

The middle chapter and possibly the most intriguing has another son, Eli (Stahl) who is caught up with questionable characters and is charged with two other guys to visit some gypsy folk; a moment that comes to a whole heap of trouble for Eli.

Lastly, we’re introduced to the daughter, Mary (Kelli Garner) and her partner, Ross (Tony Hale), who have been struggling to have children of their own and are in the throes of finalising an adoption process.

As each chapter unfolds, serving as a means to build up and embellish each character, but these windows into their lives so far trudge along at a snail’s pace without any clear direction or purpose. Other than to allow the final moment to unfold. For what it’s worth this final moment when it arrives is well placed and with a powerful punchline, but it’s a damn painful ride to get there. For some, they would have tuned out long before this takes place. 

The Prognosis:

There is plenty of promise set up in What Josiah Saw, with a solid cast and a definitive approach to the storytelling.

The problem arises through its slow interplay as it tries to develop the characters, ordinarily a good thing, but this is painfully slow and interest wanes quite quickly.

A shame, as the last scene is a decent and dramatic conclusion.

  • Saul Muerte

What Josiah Saw is streaming on Shudder ANZ from Thu Aug 4th.

Movie review: Moloch (2022)

18 Monday Jul 2022

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Having established a cornerstone of horror through what is commonly termed as nordic noir, it’s about time that another European country should stake a claim with that dark, folk storytelling. So, the Dutch step forward with something lurking in the peat bogs in the north of the Netherlands.

The entity in question seems to be honing in on Betriek (Sallie Harmsen) and her family, or those that she comes in contact with, suggesting that there is more than meets the eye to this mysterious presence that up til now has lain dormant. The last time it arose was when Betriek was a little girl as presented in our prologue sequence when something is heard above the room that she is playing in, only to then see blood seeping through the cracks aloft.
It also seems that an archaeological dig has unearthed the being known as the titular Moloch, and now anyone that stands in her path will succumb to torment.

Admittedly this film is a bit of a slow burner, but director Nico van den Brink (Sweet Tooth) is able to craft enough intrigue and mystery to the tale, fuelled with some great performances, well structured characters that you actually care for, and the added mark of something that feels like an age-old story.
The narrative ducks and weaves like a crime thriller, with our lead protagonist denying yet puled into this mystery that plagues her family. Just how far she is willing to dig, will determine their fate.

The Prognosis:

Too often, when European folk horror is presented with a slow burn, the content dries up and becomes pale. Moloch though is a cleverly crafted tale with strong characters and enough twists to keep you on tenterhooks. A surprising and comforting darkly Gothic story presented from a welcome new source.

  • Saul Muerte

Moloch will be streaming on Shudder ANZ from Jul 21st.

Movie review: Good Madam (2022)

11 Monday Jul 2022

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It is clear from the offset that this psychological thriller is a heartfelt commentary about the post-apatheid impact on South Africa. Director Jenna Cato Bass, who grew up in the troubled country, weaves together her insights into her homeland with a mystical feel that could very well be drawn from her study of magic.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Tsidi (Chumisa Cosa), who is forced to move in with her estranged mother, a woman who has lived a life of servitude, tied to the domestic lifestyle, enslaved to white empowerment.
The madam in question is virtually catatonic for most of the movie, and is symbolic of how in spite of how tides have changed in South Africa, the presence and long lasting effect that this gruelling oppression has on Black Africans and widening the race divide. 

This trauma is not one that can easily be vanquished and will be passed on from generation to generation, scarred from what transpired and stuck with this demon that resides in the consciousness, tearing apart your mental wellbeing.

The more entrenched that Tsidi becomes in her mother’s lifestyle again, the more embroiled she becomes to the torment and enslaved to suffering. Cosa portrays this anguish with great pose and dignity, fuelling our own heartache as she fights tooth and nail to resist or overcome what is inevitable. Resolution can only be found in unity, but can Tsidi find kinship with her mother and brother, or is the weight of history too overbearing?

The Prognosis:

Good Madam is a slow burn psychological commentary on trauma and oppression. It weaves a delicate balance of torment and hope, slowly dialling up the tension to a dramatic conclusion.

The pace may turn people away but for those who like to be emotionally churned up with a steady transgression, they will be gifted with a well crafted tale.

  • Saul Muerte

Good Madam will be streaming on Shudder ANZ from Thu Jul 14th.

Movie review: On The 3rd Day (2021)

05 Tuesday Jul 2022

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Daniel de la Vega’s latest feature, On the 3rd Day finds its place on Shudder’s Exclusive and Original platform. While it does serve up some fairly predictable choices, there is certainly some appeal in the manner that de la Vega chooses to weave his tale.

The centrepoint of catharsis stems from the moment when Cecilia and her son Martin are involved in a car accident. Cecilia was in the throes of escaping her abusive husband when the catalyst occurred. The story picks ups three days later with Cecilia trying to piece the puzzle along with now trying to find her son; absent since the car crash.

Who was responsible?

Who is this mysterious elderly religious man, hellbent on his own quest and the other party in the collison. Is this coincidence or divine reckoning that has brought these two together only to counter against one another towards the film’s climactic reveal?

The further Ceclia digs into her lost days, the more of the past she uncovers with brutal truths exposed.

The air of intrigue that hangs in the air of Cecilia’s character is the main draw card here and Mariana Anghileri’s portrayal of our protagonist is a big draw card as she delicately dapples with strength and vulnerability. It is this balance of emotional range that allows the audience to play along with the poetry of the piece and despite its obvious movements, is captivating all the same.

The Prognosis:

On the 3rd Day treads a foreseeable trail but in this case it’s not the destination that is its selling point but the journey it takes us on.
Celia’s plight and dedication to find out the truth of the mystery carries our own intrigue with careful deliberation to hook us in and deliver a satisfying tale.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Revealer (2022)

24 Friday Jun 2022

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Luke Boyce has steadily been making a name for himself in the film industry behind the camera as a director or producer, namely in making promos for the big sporting teams of Chicago. His latest outing sees him in the Director’s chair for his first feature length movie and with a promising hook.

The premise has a stripper, Angie (Caito Aase) trapped in a peep show booth along with a religious protester, Sally (Shaina Schrooten) when the world is hit by an apocalyptic event. Oh and it has a retro fit of 1980s Chicago as a setting for good measure.

Unfortunately, the film struggles to meet these bold expectations, providing the audience with tired and two-dimensional characters for us to champion their desire for survival.

If you’re going to have a primarily two person feature to keep you captivated for 1hr and 26 mins, then you have to provide a weighty script with characters that have depth to their personalities.

All of this is sadly lacking and we’re left with a lacklustre narrative that is far from apocalyptic.

Our two leads manage to fight their way out of said phone booth when faced with a zombie, only to be tested further when they venture into a labyrinth of snake type nasties in an underground world. This underbelly of Chicago feels like a cheap attempt to replicate the upside down in Stranger Things. The effects are fairly good however, showing that there is promise in Boyce’s vision, and that hope may lay in his next feature, Revival.

For Revealer though, these tests of mental will and endurance seem pale and much like the story itself, on a road to nowhere.

The Prognosis:

There are nuggets of potential in this flick but too often the dialogue is weak and doesn’t offer enough to support a decent premise.

  • Saul Muerte

Revealer is currently streaming on Shudder Australia

Movie review: Offseason

16 Thursday Jun 2022

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Having launched into the film industry as an intern through hit or miss horror production studio, Blumhouse, Mickey Keating has now directed six feature films including Darling, Carnage Park, and Pod.

HIs latest outing, Offseason, now streaming on Shudder, much like his other movies is drenched in inspirational nods to the films of yester-year. Most notable here is 1973’s Messiah of Evil, a supernatural horror that follows the pursuit of a young woman’s lost father.

Similarly here, we journey alongside Marie (Jocelin Donahue) who receives a letter to attend to her mother’s grave, which has been vandalised on a remote island. Accompanying her is George, played by a criminally underused Joe Swanberg (You’re Next), known for his involvement with the mumblegore movement.
It’s important to stress this link because much like those movies a similar style is at play with a guerilla style improvisation in the dialogue that never quite hits the mark on this occasion. 

Once the couple brave the storm and cross the only bridge from the mainland, they encounter a strange and isolated town that strikes as if it was pulled straight out of Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
There are legends of a demonic creature from the sea, a cult that are ensnared by his command, and all this ties to a pact that involves Marie’s deceased mother.
Are these all figments of a deranged collective?
Or is there truth to it all, and Marie is part of a trap, lulled to fulfil a prophecy?

It is clear that Keating has a vision in mind with some stylistic set pieces that weave together Marie’s plight into a strange world.  There are moments of promise, but in his execution Keating fails to string together these moments of confusion to form any sense of clarity. We, like Marie, end up lost in the exposition, struggling to navigate our way towards the films conclusion with any sense of satisfaction.

The Prognosis:

Despite having a great calibre of actors to fill his cast, Director Mickey Keating struggles to harness any weight to this Lovecraftian inspired horror.

There are some promising set pieces but it fails to produce any cohesiveness and instead wallows in its narrative mire.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Night’s End (2022)

30 Wednesday Mar 2022

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Once again I find myself struggling to connect with the latest Exclusive and Original offerings from horror streaming platform, Shudder.
Last year I saw high calibre movies, Violation, The Dark and the Wicked, Skull, and The Boy Behind The Door really resonated with me and featured in my Top 13 Horror movies of 2021.
All of which marks a difficult run of events for Shudder this year to continue to raise the bar. Not that it has been without moments of quality thanks to the cracking home invasion movie, For the Sake of Vicious. I highly recommend this if you haven’t yet caught Reese Eveneshen and Gabriel Carrer’s movie.

March has proven a different obstacle though I’m afraid to say as Night’s End is hampered by its own ambitions through a low-budget, tightly constrained story, made through COVID times. I feel like I could be over-critical due to my expectations, as I equally want to applaud the efforts from director Jennifer Reeder who helmed the V/H/S ‘94 segment Holy Hell. The problem is that through capturing the isolation, loneliness and desperation that the protagonist Ken Barber (Geno Walker) endures at a time that he is at his lowest ebb, losing his job, and his family, it also highlights the areas that fall south in various departments, namely the evidently weak plotline and the cheap visual effects.

It’s a shame as there is a subject here that is ripe to explore in depth. Ken’s issue as a father who is on the brink of despair, at his lowest, to shed light on a social dilemma where depression and alcoholism can lead the most decent person to ruin. For it is clear that Ken has a good heart, and for whatever reason has folded under the pressures that life can take. This stigma that he now has to bear also leads those closest to him to question his sanity when certain paranormal events unfold.

It takes a wicked turn into unbelievability though when Ken starts to get online recognition through social media following and in particular an online paranormal debunker Dark Corners (Daniel Kyri). The hammy performance from spiritual medium Colin Albertson (Lawrence Grimm) also shifts the audience out of the realm of credibility. In addition, the presentation of communication by each of the characters through Ken’s computer (cyberspace) makes the world disjointed. 

What Night’s End does boast however is a great performance (as always) from Michael Shannon as Ken’s ex-wife’s partner. A key supporter of Ken’s paranormal investigations and constantly delivering a high level of engagement on screen. 

The Prognosis:

A bold and promising premise to be explored in a confined environment and deliver a tough subject is ultimately let down by the lack of cohesion and budget constraints to pull off the vision.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: The Bunker Game (2022)

25 Friday Mar 2022

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Some games are not for everyone.

While I may not have been the most athletic kid growing up, I did enjoy taking part in games. Be it in physical sports or the tabletop board games.

For their latest Exclusive and Original features, Shudder have launched Italian director Roberto Zazzara’s film The Bunker Game onto their platform.

The premise is that a Live Action Role Playing Game set around the rise of the Third Reich buried underground and living the life of the Nazi’s regime. When the games’ creator disappears, the line between game and reality blends and the players are forced into a battle for survival.

The idea of a live action role-playing game seems ripe for a bloody scene. By playing with the idea of realism the game and the horror element is heightened but the problem comes from no clear understanding of what the rules of this game may be. Is it set in the now, or a warped future where the Reich have sneaked underground with the means of a new uprising? Or is this world merely the stuff of some rich man’s playground?
By throwing into the mix, a paranormal element that could be behind everything, then we start to get into really murky and convoluted territory.

This isn’t the only real issue however, as both characters and the performances therein are borderline dry. There’s two-dimensions and then there’s flatline. The writers couldn’t do much more in order to shirk their audience away from the content. The narrative is like wading through treacle, but unfortunately nothing sticks so that by the films conclusion we’re beyond caring about whatever they may have concocted to draw the movie to a close.

The Prognosis:

Unfortunately, March hasn’t been too kind for horror streaming platform Shudder. So far the exclusive and original content has been underwhelming.
In the case of The Bunker Game, it simply struggles to hold your interest and falls on so many crucial elements along the way.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: The Seed (2021)

19 Saturday Mar 2022

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A few weeks ago the horror streaming platform Shudder released The Seed as part of their Exclusive and Original content.

The film sees Sam Walker in the director’s chair for the first time overseeing a feature length movie, and is centred in the Mojave desert where 3 girls are settling in for a weekend retreat. Their plans however, would  be disrupted due to a bizarre alien invasion.

The choice of location may seem a strange choice but is packed with promise for it’s remoteness and ripe with tapping into dealing with a crisis when isolated from society.

What surprised me though is that The Seed gets swamped in vacuousness, both in narrative and character depth. There is simply nothing here for the audience to grab hold of.

The girls in question are some of the most frustrating characters I’ve seen on screen in some time with no redeeming features whatsoever, particularly from Deidrie (Lucy Martin) and Heather (Sophie Vavaseur).

These so called friends are so self-consumed (which I get is the point) that any grace we would have for their predicament dies along with their performances. Any vein attempt to dilute their negative energy with our lead protagonist Charlotte (Chelsea Edge) who at least has some sense and is in touch with reality, is lost in the mirth of pained scripting choices.

What is does boast is some creditability in the effects department, creating some suitably gross visual creature effects in the alien life forms design. If this is anything to go by there is still potential from Sam Walker to produce something worthy, but we’re too bogged down by it’s obvious weaknesses for this area alone to warrant any high praise.

The Prognosis:

Quite simply, this movie is dull and lifeless

The characters propel you from the narrative and there is little care to hold your attention beyond some fairly decent visuals.

Movie review: The Scary of the Sixty First (2021)

05 Saturday Mar 2022

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When I first heard about The Scary of the Sixty First I was intrigued about the premise and highlighted it as a must watch for 2021.
Living in Australia sometimes means that things slip through the cracks during the time of global release.
Thankfully though, the streaming platform has picked up the slack in some cases and TSOTSF has been released through their Exclusive and Original content.
Unfortunately the anticipation didn’t live up to my expectations.

I had heard comparisons to Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and 1970s thrillers of which Roman Polanski was such a prominent figure in. These collations are far-reaching I fear, as these auteurs of the the celluloid craft are some of the greatest, and with all due respect to Director Dasha Nekrasova, this is her feature debut, and while their are elements of appeal to her final cut, there are flaws to her offering that can’t quite allow her to fall in with such pedigree.

The film setting takes place in the Upper East Side of Manhattan where two women, Noelle (Madeline Quinn) and Addie (Betsey Brown) move into an apartment with ominous ties to Jeffrey Epstein and his nefarious sex trafficking activities.
This subject alone is hard to connect with as a viewer and Nekrasova forces us to endure the provocation that such a subject carries with it. Always a hard subject to explore and pose thought around, and Nekrasova doesn’t shy away from tackling this and the trauma that surrounds it head on. It’s probably the reason she cast herself in the role of The Girl, who is investigating the issues around Epstein’s activities and the apartment in question.

The narrative then takes us through a cobweb of fractured moments surrounding the three women as they explore, investigate or come under the influence that the strange apartment block and a hidden energy that possesses them at various stages throughout the film.
By the journey’s end the murkiness lifts if but for a moment to try and tie up any loose ends, by this stage though, the wading through the mystification has been hard work and the audience is left feeling stagnant by the subject and the effort to shock or shake a response from us.

The Prognosis:

Dasha Nekrasova tackles a tough subject for her feature film debut before the lens.
There are moments that intrigue, but all too often the film struggles through disillusion and bewilderment, that forces us to disconnect with the material.

Yes, we should definitely keep Nekrasova’s name on your watch list, but for now this film gets lost in confusion and drowns in a topic that may be too tough to develop for a first time director, not that the subject should be ignored all together. 

A bold attempt.

  • Saul Muerte