Black Mold

Sitting here, unable to sleep, feeling miserable with a head cold, I stumbled across this made by Tubi movie. So let me say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If I had more energy to write a proper review I could try to do it justice, but if nothing else I'll put my vote out there.

Starts off, first third feels like an art film. Camera work is good. Main actress good. Those YouTube videos of old buildings, abandoned places... take that creepy backdrop and then apply some original ideas for a story, and you start to get a feel for this well done movie.

Just a small cast but everyone held there own. The story keeps you pulled in tight, and there are things to keep considering... why, what, who, how. Good stuff.

Near the end...The initial credit scene, before the text centric credits, brought back that eerie vibe you got at the start. It is truly unrelated, but it somehow reminded me of The Walking Dead's opener. Maybe I was imagining it, but I really dug it regardless.

Black Mold is a simple, yet effective, psychological horror.

It's not flashy.

Or laden with state of the art special effects.

But it's a solid little story; and has some pretty decent production quality!

In it, two up-and-coming photographers, head to a dilapidated location, with a storied history.

Only to find that it's inhabited by a homeless squatter...who warns them about what the darkness brings...if they find themselves stuck there, overnight.

Because- as you might have guessed from the film's title- the place is (apparently) filled with a type of black mold that causes their most deep seeded fears to become reality, in the form of hallucinations.

With that being said...it's a bit of a slow burner.

That is, for the most part, dramatically driven.

But it does manage to exude a, slight, air of tension.

And manages to keep you engaged enough, as you wait to see how it's all going to play out in the end.

As a result of it's relatively slow pace...you find yourself beginning to expect there to be an explosive twist at the end.

Though- while this, arguably, does play out- it ends on a weird note, that you can't help but feel is anti-climactic.

Even weirder, though, is the fact that- if it weren't for the title- you wouldn't have known the whole thing was driven by black mold at all.

You are completely left to deduce that based on the film's title alone.

Which isn't necessarily a fault.

But it doesn't really suggest mature writing skills, either.

That being said...it's entertaining enough.

But it could have been substantially better, if they just sussed out the narrative a little more thoroughly.

Particularly in regards to the ending.

But it is what it is.

3.5 out of 10.

No pun intended - the movie is quite simple I reckon. Many horror movies are if you boil it or them down to be fair. But does it have to be complicated? I think not - and in a sense there still is a lot here to wrap your mind around anyway - how and why ... and especially what ... as in real and reality of course.

The acting is fine and there are enough jump scares and overall good effects to keep you entertained ... the twists work too, well mostly that is. I assume most will be able to guess where this is heading ... at least overall. So yes the sensible thing would have been to run away early ... but we wouldn't have a movie, if characters always did the sensible things, would we? Exactly.

This isn't a new concept for a film. People go into decrepit places and unusual events happen. Instead of the supernatural occurring, this film follows the idea of "What is real and what is imagined?" I liken it to Session 9 as we aren't certain what is happening even though we are seeing what the characters see.

The set up has a mildly amateurish quality foreshadowing the idea of fear. But both of the main actors do well with less than stellar script dialogue in the beginning. Once the movie moves into the second section, the plot begins to expand into what is the meat of the story, and now acting and mood improve.

I was drawn to this film waiting for the reveal and loved that ambiguity remained a central point but with enough clarity that I wasn't frustrated. I was questioning in the film, uncertain of what was imagined or what was real, and I never felt completely lost. Decent low budget yet quality film.

The movie was on it's way to being a really good film minus some rough dialog, but i feel like they didn't know how to end the film and it just comes off as lazy writing, they did a great job with the atmosphere and cinematography but ending it like they did just felt like they didn't know how to land it.

There were some pretty good practical effects used so props to them for not going the CGI route but at the end of the day i feel like the ending hurt this film really bad. You can't build up suspense and atmosphere and never finish the story you started to tell, it's a real rug pull the audience because this film had potential to be great but a mediocre send off takes a lot of points off.

That is why I have to give it a 5 out of 10, It's such a shame because i was really invested in the story.