Moloch

This is strictly in the folk horror sub-genre, so don't go in expecting a slash-em-up. It takes a novelistic approach with a handful of characters who make unusual discoveries in a nearby peat bog. It's about 'digging' around for the secrets of the past and the consequences they have for Sallie Harmsen and her family.

Harmsen carries the whole movie and does a fantastic job. Give her more roles! The rest of the cast is good too, my only criticism being Alexandre Willaume's character being a bit boring and unecessary. If you cut his role out of the film entirely, not much would change. The cinematography is excellent and goes for lots of warm colours and coziness which I found refreshing.

The story unfolds slowly and as a result feels a little overlong, but it's a solid tale. It's dual language, which I enjoyed but some people don't like that (up to you). It's classic horror, much more M R James than James Wan. Thrilling? No. Scary? Not really. It's thoughtful and a bit sad. I liked it because it's an actual folk horror that isn't treated like a theme-park ride.

"Moloch" is a Dutch horror movie and that fact alone is a reason for being positive about this movie. Horror movies tend to be expensive due to the needed special effects and that is a risk for a small market as the Dutch one. So all credit for (debuting) director Nico van den Brink, who took this risk.

The horror we see in "Moloch" is based on foik tales. In this respect the film follows the earlier trend in international horror movies such as "The witch" (2015, Robbert Eggers) and "Midsommar" (2019, Ari Aster).

As is usual with folk tales the story has some typical local (in this case Dutch) elements. It is situated in the Northern province of Drenthe, in the peat areas of this province. Dutch gin features prominent in the bars and we can even see the two main characters drinking what is called "a headbutt" (a glass of beer combined with a small glass of Dutch gin). The Dutch girl can handle this better than her Danish companion.

In some reviews it is said that the power of the film is diminished by the fact that the film explains too much. I do not agree. Take for example the title "Moloch". This is a pagan God that is associated with child sacrifices. The victims in the film seem however a lot older. It took me some interpretation to find the underlying logic.

A weak point in my opinion is the fact that the film has both plot elements that are supernatural but also depends on a (pagan) ritual. It never becomes quit clear what the relationship between these two might be. In this sense a film such as "The Wicker man" (1973, Robin Hardy) is much more clear with its choice for the pagan ritual.

Finally I like to call attention to the in my opinion very strong ending. In effect the film is most scary after the climax in stressing the continuity of the cycle. A continuity very observant spectators could already have spotted at the beginning of the movie. In the farmhouse were the main character lives are a lot of family porteraits. Men are however wholy absent from these portraits. To be more specific, these portraits show (for different generations) the grandmother, the mother and the daughter.

This one landed at a solid 6.5 for me and I decided to round up to a 7 as I am a bit biased towards folk horror.

The story, while a tad slow paced, was engaging and atmospheric. The plot was interesting and they kept it just slightly confusing enough to where I somehow did not see that twist at the end coming, even though I felt I totally should have haha

The acting was pretty on point the whole time, everyone seemed to have done a solid job. I enjoyed the mix of the two languages, it added another dimension to the story while also giving it a sense of relatability as an English speaker. Technically, the movie also shinned, it looked and sounded great.

The third act was by far the best part and while it took a bit to get there, the first two thirds were enjoyable as well. I think it would've been a bit more successful if they had shaved some of the dead space off or sprinkled a little bit of the magic that the third act had into the first two. Would definitely recommend.

This movie really took me by surprise. At the beginning it looks like an ordinary typical horror movies but it's not. The storyline is great until the end. The plot twist is unpredictable. Great acting. Really recommend this movie. Well done.

It's nice to see a competent horror movie for a change, nowadays most horror movies seem to rely solely on exposition for dummies and jumpscares, which I hate. This movie doesn't waste it's time on anything useless, it's a well paced movie with a great atmosphere. It takes some time to build up and you won't guess the ending. The ending almost reminds me of a masterpiece called Hereditary by Ari Aster. The acting was flawless and there were some very competent moments of cinematography. I sincerely recommend watching the movie. Forget about the lame blockbuster like the Nun or the Conjuring and choose this instead.