The First Omen

 

Director ~ Arkasha Stevenson

Writers ~ Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, Keith Thomas

2024,     United States-Italy-Serbia-Canada

Stars ~ Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga

One of those “better than you expect” because the title implies a lazy cash-in; and indeed, its need to tie-in with the franchise is its most groansome feature. That, and some uninteresting-unnecessary jump-scares and a cameo from The Nun that were probably seen as obligatory.

It has a strong performance by Nell Tiger Free and the presence of Bill Nighy, Ralph Ineson and a host of imperious elder nun faces give it a respectable foundation. Inevitably, this kind of False Flag operation conspired by these religious nutters is played out on the female body, which means the body horror here is to do with what comes out. It doesn’t go as gonzo as ‘Immaculate’, a direct peer that hits many of the same beats, and subsequently ‘The First Omen’ is not quite as much fun. It’s more to be judged on its worthiness. The hysterical bombast of the original ‘Omen’ exemplified by Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score implied a horror in-joke, a satire even, of religion’s self-seriousness, which is also something the immediate sequels missed out on. The brutalisation and manipulation of women is scary, but not so much else, for aside from the playfulness of the opening, we don’t really get the ‘Final Destination’-style elaborate death set-pieces for audience-pleasing yuks either.

Mostly sustained by beautiful compositions by Arkasha Stevenson with some pleasingly offbeat music choices that promise much, but as we know where it’s going it doesn’t have enough surprises or the set-pieces to make it more than impressively mounted and better than you expect.

FrightFest online #5: 'Dementer', 'As In Heaven, So On Earth', 'Ultrasound', 'Night Drive', 'Hotel Poseidon'

Dementer

 

Writer & Director - Chad Crawford Kinkle

Stars - Katie Groshong, Brandy Edmiston, Larry Fessenden

USA, 2020

 

A prime example of how the verisimilitude of low-budget hand-held aesthetic can enhance the uncanny of the horror genre (so this is what a horror film would feel like in the real world?). With the documentary feel of Katie’s starting work at a care home constantly interrupted by the flashbacks to a horror film and the prevalence of a soundtrack that always reminds you of a perpetual sinister presence and manipulations. Great naturalistic performances – Katie Groshong is great – exceptional sound-design, a plot that you can untangle afterwards makes this haunting and quite bold.

 

“Director Chad Crawford Kinkle built the film around his sister Stephanie, who has Down Syndrome and stars as one of the film's leads”, says IMDB trivia, and certainly the film thrives with respect  for its subjects even as it bubbles and then overflows with genre.

 

As In Heaven, So On Earth

Come in cielo, così in terra

 

Writer & Director – Francesco Erba

With: Eva Basteiro-Bertoli, Ania Rizzi Bogdan, Federico Cesari, Philippe Guastella, Margherita Mannino

Italy, 2020

 

Combining found footage, animation, interviews, police procedural, gothic mystery, medieval outrages, religious conspiracies … ghosts? Hitmen? Director/writer Erba throws everything in and perhaps bites off more than can be chewed, but it certainly doesn’t lack for ambition and makes for a fascinating curio. The animated puppet Medieval sequences, which take up nearly half of the film (the film took 5 years to complete) are sublime, and the found-footage hand-held perspectives also hit heights. It almost feels like a portmanteau. Although sprawling and verging on the incomprehensible at times, there are perhaps tonal hiccups and perhaps clear answers come a little later than the viewer wants, there are enough jigsaw pieces that slot together and enough ambiguity that remains to fully satisfy. Erbo’s conviction in telling a quite prosaic tale with myriad styles certainly distinguishes this.

 

 

Utrasound

 

Director - Rob Schroeder

Writer - Conor Stechschulte

Stars - Vincent Kartheiser, Chelsea Lopez, Breeda Wool

USA, 2021

 

Definitely one of those films that is best going into knowing nothing,

 

It starts off like one of those ‘The Gift’ (2015) or ‘Pacific Heights’ scenarios, that kind of thing. A guy (a brilliantly brow-beaten Vincent Kartheiser) seeking help when his car blows a tyre is welcomed by an odd couple… I really had to go to the bathroom at an early point (at home: this was digital) and when I came back it had turned into a different film. Unpredictable and always pulling the rug from under the viewer, it has elements of indie people drama, science-fiction and even conspiracy thriller. It’s a delight to just go along for the ride when you know you will only work it out on a second watch, and even then some points are up for grabs. It could easily lose the threads and become baffling, but Stechschulte’s adaptation of his own graphic novel and Schroeder’s intelligent direction keep the viewer on their toes without losing coherence. Tricky, smart, multi-layered.

 

 

Night Drive

Directors -Brad Baruh & Meghan Leon

Writer – Meghan Leon

Stars- AJ Bowen, Sophie Dalah

 

A ride share driver picks up a wild card young woman and a night of increasing craziness ensues. And for the most part, that’s what you think you’re getting, agreeably, with brilliant performances and interplay between Bowen and Dalah. And then, just when you think you have it figured, things take a left turn and all of a sudden, her obnoxiousness takes on new layers and events take on new shades. Darkly humorous, slick and playful, but one you have to stick with.

 

 

Hotel Poseidon

 

Writer & Director - Stefan Lernous

Stars – Tom Vermeir, Ruth Becquart, Anneke Sluiters

Belgium, 2021

 

This disgusting hotel is full of the deadpan, surrealism and black humour that typifies Roy Andersson, Aki Kaurismaki, Terry Gilliam, Jarmusch without the humour, and something like a Quay bros digression brough to life. Dave plays manager to the dead hotel which is getting a renovation into some kind of failed Lynchian club. It’s the set design, the details, the offbeat dialogue which, the increasingly nightmarish characters and aesthetic that holds the attention rather than a story. This is Dave’s descent into existential hell: everyone else seems to be having a decent time but him. This is a film of the horror of decay and disgust. It’s the sets and the phantasmagorial tricks Lernous pulls to convey Dave’s plotless dilemma that enthrals.

Grimmfest Easter Horror Nights 2: 'Threshold', 'Clapboard Jungle', 'Thrall', 'Weirdo', 'The Bef'

 THRESHOLD

Directors - Powell Robinson, Patrick R. Young

Screenwriter - Patrick R. Young

2020, USA

Leo (Joey Millen) is called for help by his junkie estranged sister Virginia (Madison West) and when he arrives, she seems be going cold turkey or having a drug-induced fit. But she says she says she’s no long an addict: rather, she is cursed, and she’s bound to some other guy and can feel what he feels. And so the siblings embark upon a road trip to find the man she has a symbiotic link to.

It becomes pretty obvious early that this will be a film about their relationship, filmed guerrilla style and improvisationally. And to this, Millen and West acquit themselves admirably. But this isn’t ‘Before Sunrise’ for the Satanists subgenre. As the road movie goes on, it becomes obvious that the supernatural element that hooks isn’t given focus. Indeed, per the Grimmfest Q&A, the finale was apparently made up the night before, and the directors kind of feel the ending is just a tag-on to the improv road movie chamber piece. Promising relationship study that doesn’t possess enough meat on its bones, and that doesn’t realise that the strong premise ought to focus and reveal much more about its characters.

 

CLAPBOARD JUNGLE

Director & screenwriter - Justin McConnell

2020, Canada

 And to my nit-picking about the narrative of ‘Threshold’, and any I may have when I eventually see ‘Lifechanger’, is of course inconsequential against the effort it has taken to make a film of any kind. I mean, 'Threshold' is obviously an admirable achievement even if I, personally, don't think it fully lands. A film like McConnell’s ‘Clapboard Jungle’ reminds of that, the effor tit takes to make a film and get it seen: it's the tale of how he took years to make ‘Lifechanger’. I have two film-making friends, both tell me differing experiences which is probably in accord with their personalities – and neither are really like the filmmaker here - but Justin McConnell’s experience does tally with anecdotes I’ve heard. If McDonnell’s documentary returns again and again to his angst and self-doubt and travelling to festivals, that’s the nature of the experience (he was far more fun and at ease in the Q&A). Where McConnell is smart is that he intersperses his autobiographical experience of the film industry with bigger players and cult names – hey!! Dick Miller! Hey, Lloyd Kaufman!! George Romero!!! Etc – which gives wider context and experienced opinions. So, if you are a desperate artist of any kind, McConnell’s tale is going to be relatable and even informative about the harsh reality of how much the business end defines artistry.

 &

Xanthe Pajarillo’s short film ‘Thrall’ is suely typifies the sort of film that is being made under lockdown, utilising the claustrophobia of the times and equating that with inescapable domestic issues. A young woman tries to maintain her personal life via the modern technology of her phone whilst looking after her mother. The fear and stifling nature of dementia-possession and of it being transmissible is all there. Found-footage has surely moved into Home Footage, which has its own problems (she allows two security camera’s in her bedroom? Does she know?), although we can perhaps dismiss the query of Who’s Watching. But ‘Thrall’ has the advantage of the short form to cut to the nub and has all the themes fully present – even touching on social care – that makes it full-blooded rather than just a horror snapshot.

A horror snapshot is what’s given with Ashlea Wessel’s ‘Weirdo’. We join a boy as he is presumably waiting for the bullies to leave before he starts home but school. But a bully catches him up and, as the Grimmfest summary says, “When an odd boy is confronted by a bully, conflict leads to a grim conclusion.” A washed-out palette and generally downbeat feel draws on all the High School misery films we’ve seen, and we can fill in the backstory and what this snapshot implies for the future easily. It only needs to chill.

Eric Burleson's ‘The Bef’ is a piece that is even tricker with playing with audience sympathies: a boy is pushing a toddler around, and even changes it’s nappy. But it seems he’s being pursued… Again, using the short form to deny the audience any comfortable, easy resolution, leaving a troubling stirring of themes of abuse, complicity and the taboo breaking that horror specialises in.