The Breach - Das Tor zur Hölle

Pretty good reworking of the Lovecraft tale that was used as the basis for the far better film From Beyond made in 1986. I've read a novel by Nick Cutter, who was the writer/adapter of this screenplay, and enjoyed it enough to give this film a chance.

The acting from the entire cast is decent, and it is nice to see a lot of practical effects used in lieu of CGI. While the final third is exciting, it leaves too many unanswered questions, although it does have a nasty final sting for the viewer.

I'd say it's worth 90 minutes of your time if you don't mind a slow buildup to the third act. I was never bored with it.

If you watch a lot of movies influenced by the stories of William Hope Hodgson, H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth, you might rate this a point or two higher because on some weird level you enjoy having your hopes dashed. For anyone else, this score might even be too generous.

It's a real shame, because the early setup of the film is great. It makes you think you're actually going to get a good Lovecraft-esque film (there's the ol' masochism again!). The opening titles are stylish. The actor who plays Connie has immediate charisma (sadly, she is underused). There's an intriguing early discovery which legitimately leads on to the next stage of the story. Sure, it's a tiny bit shaky, a little bit goofy, but that's par for the course in indie movies of the type; overall it looks like it's shaping up to be one of the good ones in the cosmic horror genre. You'll even see an actor who might recognise if you're a glutton for punishment: her from The Strain, yes (along with Connie's actor, the best performances here).

But there's a point where the wobbles suddenly escalate and soon after that the project completely falls on its arse. Any enthusiasm I had for the film ebbed away to nothing. It's as if an evil film crew came through the veil and replaced the original crew, wickedly sabotaging and unpicking all the good work that went before. Even Slash's soundtrack, which is never good, gets noticeably worse throughout.

I had never heard about this 2022 movie titled "The Breach" from writers Nick Cutter and Ian Weir prior to sitting down to watch it. But I have to admit that I was initially drawn in by the movie's cover right away when I stumbled upon it by random chance here in 2024. Suffice it to say, that with it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen and an interesting cover, of course I opted to sit down and watch what director Rodrigo Gudiño had to offer.

The storyline in "The Breach" had potential, I will say that much. However, writers Nick Cutter and Ian Weir just never really tapped fully into the potential readily available within the concept of the story. A shame really, because "The Breach" could have been so much more than what director Rodrigo Gudiño managed to deliver.

I was not familiar with any of the cast members in the movie. And that is something that I actually do enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie. And I will say that the cast ensemble in "The Breach" were good, and the actors and actresses put on good performances throughout the course of the movie.

Now, something that I really enjoyed about "The Breach" were the special effects. There were some nice special effects in the movie, and that definitely helped to make up for an otherwise bland script and storyline.

While I did manage to sit through the entire movie, I can honestly say that it is not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time. It just simply was a bit too mundane, bland and without much of anything thrilling or scary for the audience to enjoy.

My rating of "The Breach" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

Nick Cutter is one of my favorite Horror novelists, and when I heard that they had adapted his Audible title into a film, I immediately jumped to watch, and while appreciated the ride for it for what it was, it was a rough, bumpy road getting there.

Let's talk about the positives; the cast is talented and made you sympathize with what they were going through. Even the less likeable characters played their roles well, and it made for a movie with obvious chemistry with all of the major players, which really elevated the viewing experience. That's about the best thing I can say about this film.

The story itself was serviceable, although I believe we've seen this premise before. Although everything looked familiar, it was told it a decent pace, with very little filler to make up the gaps.

Unfortunately, this is where the positives end. Now, we come to the negatives, and there are PLENTY.

Directing- I don't know if this was the directors first film or what, but his directing left a lot to be desired. Relying on still shots that had no artistic composition made it feel like an episode of Law & Order for most of the movie. Then, when the action did happen, he used some action movie techniques that really felt of out place in a movie that's supposed to be horror. (I mean, who needs a "blown away from an explosion" scene in a horror movie? ). Add to that some of the worst and most basic cinematography I've seen on a movie all year, it made this movie really displeasing to the eye. It looked more like made for TV film (Lifetime, is this you?) and i disliked watching it because of this. Never underestimate just how important it is to make your film look pretty, people. Don't EVER skimp out on your cinematographer.

Special Effects- the single worst part about this film was the SFX. I haven't seen such amateurish CGI in years, and I visibly cringed when any of it was utilized in any capacity. When Youtube has teenagers in their bedrooms producing better CGI, you know you messed up. Truly an embarrassment for those responsible.

The practical effects were a bit better, but again, they fall in the trap of "obvious person in a costume" territory. They spent most of the budget on the face prosthetics and totally skimped on the rest of the body, making the "monsters" look like they were heading to a Halloween party after raiding a Party City. It really was sad to see a film devolve solely on this, and it completely removed any immersion I felt up to that point. I actually considered turning the film off when the monsters appeared, that's how poorly they looked.

Lastly, the soundtrack. Slash, what the hell were you thinking? A lot of the music was way out of place, and completely removed you from what was transpiring in the movie. I just didn't understand how anyone could drop the ball so easily when music is what you are supposed to be able to do best. A truly shameful moment for him.

Overall, this movie was a huge disappointment and reminded me of why so many film adaptations of books always seem to fail. The atmosphere and tone really don't do the source material justice, and it seems like instead of making a purely horror film, the team decided that making a more "action/horror" hybrid would suit it better when it just made it so much worse.

Even if you are a fan of the audiobook, avoid this. The redeemable qualities are far outweighed by everything that made it NOT work, and I urge you to not waste you precious time like I did.

The breach had all the makings of an excellent cult horror feature, but likely will not reach those heights.

A trio of small towners go to explore a house on the other side of a river to get insights into the grisly death of a scientist. What they find gets progressively worse until things all come to a head.

Unfortunately for the film nobody can act, save for Natalie Brown who does the best she can in the thankless role of the scientists estranged wife looking for both her missing husband and their daughter.

I was about to turn the film off until she stepped into it and elevated the film while she was on screen.

The special effects are decent, but they don't save the film from feeling unbearably hokey and melodramatic versus tense and scary.

The writing itself leaves a lot to be desired, I wanted to like this movie, some of the plot was interesting. Occult underlinings, physics, dimensional travel, I feel maybe reading the book would have been a better experience.

The music, is not great to put it kindly, it feels very out of place and far too melodramatic at times, detracting from the film instead of adding to it.

Perhaps Rue Morgues second attempt at a film will be better. Sorry guys, this one's a miss.

5 stars for Natalie Brown and the effects.