Sacrifice (2020) #476

 

In the vein of H.P. Lovecraft comes "Sacrifice", a 2021 thriller about a young man returning to the land where he was born and the family secrets waiting for him there. The isolation of being on a small island in a foreign country, persistent nightmares, and creeping realization that the local citizens are all members of some esoteric cult wear down Issac and his wife Emma until the fateful revelation and conclusion of the film. Directed by Andy Collier and Tor Mian, the movie stars Ludovic Hughes as Issac, Sophie Stevens as Emma, and Barbara Crampton as Renate Nygard.

"Sacrifice" feels like a tribute to Lovecraft and his fans, and as such it may not appeal to every horror fan. While building atmosphere, the pacing may feel slow and dragging and the actual scary moments are few and brief, all much like a Lovecraft story. As fans of Lovecraft know, it's not always about the obvious scares that matter the most. The impending doom that haunt Emma throughout the film is truly effective, as well as the mysterious motivations of the cult that seems all too welcoming. Perhaps the most poignant attribute to Lovecraft is having Issac coming back to his homeland to tie up loose strings and slowly learning about his family's haunting past secrets. Giving Issac the last name of Pickman is also a very nice touch!

I must admit that I was looking forward to this film when I learned that Barbara Crampton was attached to the project. She had hinted that she was working on a Lovecraft style movie and that was all it took. She plays an important supporting role with plenty of screen time but still allows Sophie and Ludovic to shine during their scenes. As one of the local citizens with knowledge of Issac's past, Barbara's presence is felt more so in each subsequent scene. It was truly a pleasure watching her in a Lovecraft style movie again.

The Devil's Rain (1975) #455

"The Devil's Rain" trailer

It sometimes feels like that horror movies in the 1970's were either extremely campy or scary as hell, usually depending on the age appropriate rating it received. This seems to indicate that the PG rated ones were overly campy while the R rated stood a chance at having some real scares and treated as a seriously treated film. "The Devil's Rain" can be considered campy by today's standards but I think it did a great in trying to be a real horror film despite being rated PG when compared to other movies from that time.

"The Devil's Rain" boasts a stellar cast of big name stars from the mid-seventies. Ernest Borgnine stars as Jonathan Corbis, the Satanic Priest of a ancient cult of devil worshipers. William Shatner plays Mark Preston, a young man who is attempting to keep a dangerous book that his family has hidden away from Corbis who needs it to complete his rituals. Tom Skerritt ("Alien" and "The Dead Zone") plays Tom Preston, Mark's older brother who comes back home after hearing that his brother was in trouble. John Travolta, in one of his first feature films, makes a brief appearance as a faceless cult member. 

While the the main cast members were established actors at this time, this film isn't the best performance for any of them. Some may look back at this film as a slight embarrassment on their resume, but I hope they had a fun time making this film. Not everyone movie is a blockbuster or a career defining moment; sometimes they need to be made for the audience that they hope to find.

Although "The Devil's Rain" had a great cast, it doesn't have much of a story line. The plot is basic and could have been expanded upon in several areas. With a running time of 85 minutes, it feels what story it has feels stretched thin. Had it been a part of an anthology, perhaps as the main segment with a runtime of 50 or 60 minutes, the overall effort may have been more effective. 

The make up effects in "The Devil's Rain" is another point where the film may feel campy. Compared to today's standards, the effects are outdated and sloppy. But back then, on a PG rated film, I feel that it works. The Goat-like appearance that Corbis has is practical and effective. The cheap looking expressionless masks that the cultists wear become makes sense when their faces begin to melt in the film's climax. The cultists appearance also adds to the dread that they've lost their souls and that they are nothing but pawns for the Satanic Priest.

The bottle known as The Devil's Rain!

Housewife (2017) #447

“Housewife” was one of the feature films screened at the 24^th annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. Its single screening was filled to capacity and was well received by those in attendance. There is an overtly obvious nod to Lovecraft’s style of cosmic dread in the film as well as use love of cults. I enjoyed the film well enough and was glad that I chose this film over the other offerings at that time slot.

“Housewife” is the second feature film from Turkish writer/director Can Evrenol. His first film, “Baskin”, was seeped in folklore and symbolism which made that particular movie possibly somewhat confusing for people unfamiliar Turkish culture. “Housewife” feels slightly more approachable for the average viewer; it’s not as visually dark, there is less, if any, hidden Turkish references, and the cast speaks English, although with slight to thick accents.

 “Housewife” may be an ode to the stylish European horror films of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The visual palette and the use of colors in “Housewife” help draw the viewer in; warm amber and orange hues conflict with scenes of shades of blue and black, from moments of innocence and sex to trauma to hypnosis. The first two thirds of the movie are focused on trauma, memories, and sexual connection while the ending is purely unexpected horror.

Narratively “Housewife” is a chaotic tale about a woman named Holly who is barely tethered to reality ever since her childhood when she witnessed her mother kill her sister and father. She has a phobia of toilets, she is lying to her husband about wanting children, and her former best friend ran off with a cult. When that friend comes back into her life and is invited to meet the cult’s leader, Holly and her husband lives’ and turned upside down from revelations from the past and a very cultish, cosmic future. 

Annabelle (2014) #403

Taking inspiration from the real life files of Ed and Loraine Warren and the commercial success of "The Conjuring", 2014's "Annabelle" is a prequel/spin-off combination film that is entertaining and yet misses the (perhaps unfair) expectations set by the original film in this franchise. This film creates a back story for the possessed doll that was locked away in the Warrens basement collection room in "The Conjuring". I'm not a fan of over explaining scary or evil things but this is exactly why "Annabelle" was made. At times the story feels a little predictable and some of the visual effects reminded me of other movies I had recently seen. The movie did have some tense and scary moments so I would recommend this film to those who have not see "The Conjuring" already.


Inspired by Ed and Lorraine Warren's invesigations into the supernatural and paranormal, "Annabelle" is a story about a doll that becomes possessed by a Satan worshiper. The young family that owned the doll becomes haunted by it and their attempts to rid themselves of it prove nearly impossible.

House of the Devil (2009) #397

The only real way to enjoy director Ti West is 1) watch his films with an open mind and 2) watch more than one of his films. While I appreciate his efforts in the 2013 film "Sacrament", I was ultimately disappointed with the final product. So when I watched and finished "House of the Devil", I felt almost the same way. Both films offer the viewer a very, very slow "burn" before the films reach their climax, and when the big reveal or plot tilt occurs, it doesn't feel like it's enough. But when I sat down to write this review for "House of the Devil", I found myself looking back at both films rather fondly. These are the kind of films that require multiple viewings perhaps; both offer enough substance and tension to chew on for a while and so maybe with a second viewing, both movies might prove to be more rewarding. Having said this, I do prefer "Sacrament" over "House of the Devil" at the moment although the latter is worth checking out. I confess that I'm excited to watch both movies again in the few days!

"House of the Devil" is set, and filmed as if was made, during the early 1980's. The music style, the clothing, the angles that the camera is used to film the movie, and other techniques are all expertly applied. Even the opening and closing credits show traits that were popular during the horror films of the 70's and 80's. The movie itself is about a satanic cult, a lunar eclipse, and a college student in need of cash; all elements that were popular in the 1980's. The way that the story plays out is simple and obvious, playing on the fear of satanic cults in a subtle way. When the action takes place on screen, it's quick and brutal, unlike other horror movies currently that try to drown the viewers with gore and violence.

The Sacrament (2013) #391

"The Sacrament" is an mediocre offering from director and writer Ti West, with horror fiend Eli Roth serving as one of the producers. The film stars regular Ti West collaborators A.J Bowen, Joe Swanberg, and Amy Seimetz. The film might be a little too polished for a first person perspective film but at least the viewer is saved from an overly shaky and nauseating experience. The film doesn't offer anything new to the material that it covers but it does present that content in an entertaining fashion.

"The Sacrament" is a simple, effective, straightforward, and yet predictable horror film about two independent web-journalists, Sam and Jake,  and a collaborator, Patrick, who go to an unnamed country to make a documentary about Parish Eden, a possible religious utopia for former drug addicts and social rejects. Patrick wants to find his sister Caroline, a recovering drug addict, who wrote a letter to her brother asking him to come. When the three first land, they are taken to the parish by armed locals, giving them quiet concern. While the sibling reunite, Sam and Jake interview the parish residents about their new life and what their leader, Father, is like. Sam and Jake begin to see the positive aspects about the simple life that the parish residents are living but when they meet Father, their fears and concerns quickly return. Soon they realize that there are secrets that are being kept from them and that their lives are in grave danger.

Father being interviewed by Sam and filmed by Jake

Sam and Jake

Caroline holding her brother Patrick

Martyrs (2008)

“Martyrs” is the best horror movie I’ve have seen since starting this blog. While it is considered to be a part of the New French Extremity Movement, I don’t feel that the film is overly indulgent or excessively violent. I say this because all of the violence, and there is plenty, feels acceptable due to the context that the story provides. There is method and reason behind the violence, more so than for purely “getting off” like the violence displayed in films like “Hostel”. This movie feels fresh and is full shocking, adrenaline inducing moments that keeps the viewer completely engaged from beginning to end. The cult in this movie is unique from all of the other films I covered this week because they are not religious fanatics (in the normal sense at least), Satanists, or mislead followers of a dark power. These cult members are highly educated, powerful, methodical, and appear normal in every sense. It is their normalcy that makes their ulterior motives frightening; their intensity is on par with a serial killer like Buffalo Bill. The version that I saw included an introduction by the writer/director Pascal Laugler who both apologizes for the film but thanks you for watching his film. I highly recommend this film to everybody.

SPOILERS!    SPOILERS!    SPOILERS!     

The film begins with a young girl, Lucie, running barefoot through an old industrial complex. She is placed in an orphanage after investigators determine that she had been locked up and physically and mentally abused for an extended amount of time. She was not sexually abused and that leaves the investigators without a standard motive. At the orphanage, Lucie befriends Anna, who takes it upon herself to help the troubled girl. Early on Anna learns that Lucie believes that she is being stalked and tormented by a ghoulish woman covered in scars, and Anna is left unable to help her friend.

15 years later Lucie attacks a family at four while they are having breakfast one morning, killing all of them with a shotgun. She does this because she is certain that the parents are the ones who had kidnapped her and tortured her years before. After the brutal killings, Lucie calls Anna and asks her to help hide the bodies; Anna is furious because Lucie had promised to only check to see if this was indeed the correct family, verifying a picture that had appeared in a recent newspaper. Anna soon arrives at the secluded house and begins cleaning up the mess and dragging the bodies to a hole in the yard in which the mother of the family had previously dug up. As she is doing this, she discovers that the mother is still alive and tries to save her but Lucie comes into the room and brutally attacks the mother, smashing her head in with a hammer. Lucie then beings to panic when she realizes that the ghoulish woman is in the room, who begins cutting Lucie with a knife and smashing her head against the wall. Anna watches this and realizes that the ghoulish woman is all in Lucie’s head, that Lucie has been hallucinating this entire time. In a flashback we learn that Lucie had a chance to save another young girl who was also being tortured but when off instead, that the ghoul was Lucie’s guilt manifesting itself. The hallucination climaxes when Lucie slits her own throat and dies in the yard. Anna is left grieving over the loss of her friend and the consuming doubt that this family had anything to do with Lucie’s kidnapping and torture.

The next day Anna discovers a secret passage while cleaning the house, finding a full underground bunker beneath the house. Doubts that the family was innocent quickly evaporate when Anna finds a tortured woman in the bunker with metal bindings covering her eyes, ears and other parts of her body. Anna tries to comfort the scarred woman, bringing her up into the house and drawing her a bath. Anna tries to remove the metal bindings from the woman’s head, only to peel off skin from her scalp and causing more pain. The woman tries to kill herself and Anna tries to stop but before she can the woman is shot in the head by a stranger in the hallway. Suddenly the room is full of strangers dressed in black, demanding to know who Anna is and where the family members are. Anna is taken prisoner and locked in the bunker. She is finally interrogated by the cult’s leader, known only as Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle explains that their organization has been trying to find martyrs, those who see past this world and into the Other after they experience inhuman amounts of pain and suffering. She shows Anna pictures of those who they consider to be martyrs, and continues to explain that most people are only victims and not martyrs so they are forced to try their experiments time and time again. But they have found that young women are most susceptible to the transfiguration, so Anna is chosen as their next experiment. 

Dark Waters (1994)

“Dark Waters” is another low budget attempt to capture the essence of Lovecraft by a devoted and loving fan. The end result is a mixture of a Lovecraft-inspired movie that has heavy elements of Mario Bava and Dario Argento; this ultimately means slow pacing, subpar acting, overly dramatic background music, but an interesting visual atmospheric film. This was a difficult movie to sit through when I first saw it at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival but it was easier the second time around. You must be patient while watching this movie because there are moments that make it worthwhile. This movie was filmed in the Ukraine and took advantage of the Odessa catacombs for a genuine realistic feel.

Elizabeth is from England and has travelled to a very secluded island convent where her mother was raised and her (now deceased) father had been paying a hefty sum to every year. Elizabeth wants to know what the payment is for and how the secretive nuns are using it. These nuns are busy killing interlopers from discovering their dark secret; that they are guarding an ancient sea demon that can only be summoned when a broken clay amulet is pieced back together. Of course Elizabeth is the key to the mystery, but will she summon the demon or banish it?

Favorite moments - the flashback scenes. This is a movie where most will say that "I saw that coming a mile away" but I found the slow revelations well done.

Children of the Corn (1984)

Stephen King’s novels and short stories were one a driving force in the horror genre in the 1980’s. And how could Mr. King pass up the chance to write about a cult? And staying true to his style (that he had then), this wasn’t any normal cult, nay, but a story about a cult of children who must kill anyone over 18 and offer the victim as a sacrifice to their dark god! “Children of the Corn” is such a story and was one of the few movies that I was forbidden to see even if it was an edited-for-TV version by my mom. It was a dark and violent movie for its time but what impressed me the most was the film quality. This movie was produced in 1984 but looks like it could have come out this year. It’s a fun movie but the horrible acting by the two evil children Isaac and his enforcer Malachai are distracting.

The tiny farming town of Gatlin, Nebraska has fallen on hard times and when the crops fail to grow one year, the townspeople resort to prayers (sounds a lot like the premise of “Dagon”!”. Their prayers are heard by “The One Who Walks Behind the Rows” and orders the child Isaac and the other children of the town to murder their parents in his name, which they violently do. Not all of the children are “believers”, including Job, his sister Sarah, and a few others. The story really gets going when one of the non-believers is killed by Malachi in the corn rows, and the child stumbles into the road and is hit by Burt and Vicky, two adults who are trying to drive to Seattle for a new job. Burt and Vicky quickly realize something is wrong in Gatlin as they look for help and a phone. Under Isaac’s direction, the two adults have been sent as a sign and must be sacrificed to their “god”. Vicky is caught and prepared for the ritual, Malachai challenges Isaac’s aurthority, and “The One Who Walks Behind the Rows” gets really pissed off and tries to kill the adults himself.

Favorite moment – The Southpark paradoy of this film is one of my favorites!

   http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s04e16-the-wacky-molestation-adventure

The Omen (1976)

Cults love the Devil and they try their best to see that his son is raised proper and safely, getting the best education and having all of the preferred opportunities available for him. In “Rosemary’s Baby” we saw that the cult chose a loving mother and made sure that she had a proper diet and the best prenatal care in the city. The sentiment is shared and continues in “The Omen”. In this film, the cult that is much more behind the scenes itself than in the movie, finds a well-connected  politician with unlimited potential to be his “father”, to see that young Damien grows up to follow in his footsteps and fulfill the prophecy that has been foretold. And like”Rosemary’s Baby”, “The Omen” is a highly regarded horror film and is often thought of as one of the genre’s finest. Some even argue that it is the best film from 1976.

Robert Thorn and his wife Katherine are in Rome when she gives birth to their first child. Robert is told that his son had died immediately after his delivery but is given the race chance to claim a different newborn whose mother just died during childbirth. Feeling compassionate and also worried as to how his wife would take the news about their own child, Robert agrees to Father Spiletto’s (a cult member!) offer and makes a vow of secrecy and claims the baby Damien as his own. Shortly after this Robert is promoted and becomes the US Ambassador to Great Britain.

Strange events occur throughout Damien’s childhood with the most chilling of them being the happy, joyful hanging of his nanny (a cult member!) at his well-attended 5^th birthday party, yelling out to the crowd “Damien, I do this for you!” before leaping off the edge of the house with a noose around her neck. Just as suspicious and yet not nearly as creepy is the new nanny (a cult member!) who comes into the Thorn home and takes a strict protective stance towards young Damien, going so far as to killing Katherine and attempting to kill Robert when he comes to slay the son of the Anti-Christ.

Favorite moment – The scene when Keith is killed by the sheet of glass. This is an impressive effect for that time and it was a real surprise.

What is really interesting about this film is it's star, Gregory Peck. No one ever considered that someone of his acting calibur would appear in a film like this and his presence really raises the quality of this film greatly. This just goes to show that horror films are not just a genre to begin with and hope to find your break, it's a form or entertainment that offers it's own sense of fulfillment for the actors as well just being fun to be a part of.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

"Rosemary's Baby" is the ultimate movie concerning cults in the horror genre, thank you very much. It has all the elements that you need - an old building in New York with a storied history, a dedicated cult whose leaders live next to Rosemary, a cult tempting enough to seduce and recruit Rosemary's husband, and the complete helplessness of Rosemary as her due date comes closer and closer. And she has sex with the Devil itself! “Rosemary’s Baby” is highly regarded among many film institutions and is often thought of as one of the better horror movies ever made. The director Roman Polanski co-wrote the script and tried his best to follow the contents of the book that was written by Ira Levin. I have read the book and I will agree that it is a very faithful adaption.

Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy move into the Bramford, an apartment building with a dark history, in New York City. Guy is an actor who is trying to find his break into movies while Rosemary is a simple housewife. She meets a young woman named Terry one day while doing her laundry. Terry tells Rosemary how she is living with an older couple in the same floor as Rosemary and Guy. They promise each other that they will do their laundry together in the future but that doesn’t come to pass because later that night Terry kills herself by jumping out of a window. Guy and Rosemary meet the Castevets, the couple that Terry was living with.

The Castevets take an immediate liking of Rosemary and Guy and become a major influence on their lives. For example, on the night that Guy and Rosemary decide to try to conceive a child, Minnie Castevet brings over a chalky chocolate desert for them to eat. Rosemary hates it and hides the contents when Guy leaves the room. But later that night she is drugged and has vivid memories of seeing the Castevets and others standing around her naked and chanting, and then having sex with a hairy wild beast-man. She realizes and declares “This is no dream!” before passing out again. In the morning Guy claims that he had sex with her while she was passed out, which doesn’t sit well with her.

Soon, Rosemary finds out that she is pregnant and Guy and the Castevets become ecstatic. Minnie begins to come over unannounced with a friend and doesn’t leave Rosemary alone. She even gives Rosemary a charm filled with odd smelling herbs, the same charm that Terry had shown Rosemary the day that they met. Rosemary begins to suffer from stomach pains and losing weight instead of gaining which causes concern for her friend Hutch. He looks into the matter, including a closer look into the Castevets and the history of the Bramford. He discovers that Roman Castevet is really Stephen Marcato, the son of a resident who was a Satanist and was killed as a martyr. Rosemary eventually discovers this through a trail of clues that Hutch had left behind before he mysteriously fell into a coma and died. To her horror, she finds out that everyone surrounding her is a member of a Satanic Cult, including Guy who was seduced by the opportunities to further his acting career. Rosemary is trapped in her own personal Hell and ends up giving birth to the son of Satan. The movie ends when Roman convinces Rosemary that she doesn’t have to join their cult but that she should still be a loving mother to her child, which in the end is all she ever wanted to be.

End of Days (1999)

“End of Days” is a great example of a movie about cults. You have a group of dedicated individuals who have committed theirs lives to kidnapping and then raising a girl who has been cosmetically chose to be the bride/sacrifice to Satan himself at the turn of the millennium. And in proper cultist/deity fashion, the Devil (Garbriel Byrne) has no problem killing a follower or two when he gets pissed off. On the other side of the coin, you can almost call the priests who are trying to stop the Devil from completing his sacrifice a cult as well; they are members of the Catholic Church but belong to an ultra-secretive sect. So it’s Cult vs. Cult in deciding Robin Tunney’s fate…and there’s Arnold Schwarzenegger doing what he does.

1999 is quickly coming to an end and Jericho, a private top notch security/body guard stumbles upon a plot that involves a group of unknowns that are trying to kill a young woman named Christine. While saving Christine from Church assassins, Jericho finds out that Christine’s adopted family are a cult that worships Satan and that Christine is to be sacrificed so he may walk the Earth again in his real body (he is possessing the body of Gabriel Byrne at the moment). More priests die, more cultists die, Jericho’s friends are possessed and die, a train blows up, and a final showdown between Jericho and the Devil takes place in a church. Happy New Year, it’s Y2K!