Voodoo Virus

I still don't know what the point of this movie was. Mama Dominique has a church, and this "zombie powder" ... where she transforms ... one guy? Supposedly she's creating this army of zombie punk rockers, most of which seem perfectly lucid. They couldn't even afford enough punk rock outfits. One "punk" shows up in a sweater(!), and is promptly disposed of.

So enter a guy and a woman (whose identity is up in the air, depending what you read. It's not specifically revealed in the movie), who are looking for some kid who got caught up in the church (I'll give you one guess who). He croaks, and I suppose the rest of the running time is devoted to killing Mama.

Yikes was this dull and bad. Ok, I'll give you one thing: Sammie looked kind of badass when she transformed. Eh, not even worth the extra star. Speaking of which, why did the couple (of detectives?!) put so much trust in Sammie? I don't know how many times she turns on them.

Let's see, the acting was so universally bad it was a distraction, loads of bad CGI, those sets had to be cardboard, with countless identical hallways, horrible soundtrack (actually quite inappropriate in places), worst of all, dull and pointless. Best part: Sammie summons an undead army from a morgue to fight Mama's punk rock army. I couldn't tell who was fighting who! The "undead" were regular people in street clothes. Hilarious!

Ok, no budget. So that's when you get creative, and, I don't know, have an intriguing premise?

Stay tuned for the coda after the credits. Mama's dubbed voice sounds like Gilbert Gottfried!

I apologize up front for any inaccuracies. Man, it was a struggle to stay awake and interested.

While investigating a missing persons case, two Private Investigators find themselves trapped in a dilapidated church. Here, the two PI's face a violent and crafty Voodoo commune, lead by priestess Mama Dominique. And in her domain there are no rules. Mama's Voodoo Church soon becomes a labyrinth of sadistic mayhem for the two detective's as they become drenched in blood and malicious intent.

Writer/Director John Sirabella has crafted a unique experience that has everything genre fans could ask for and then some. In keeping with the trademarked niche of a Fever Dreams Production, Sirabella thrillingly homogenized the film's horror elements with (well choreographed) martial arts. This combination invigorated the tension and stakes while also allowing the supernatural elements to breathe and naturally develop. The makeup department was on their A-game for these segments; the implementation of the face paint and gore was truly superb, transfixing the characters into the atmosphere itself.

Voodoo Virus shows ambition by successfully merging varying horror formats into one engrossing narrative. However, I must admit that as eerie and transformative as the atmosphere is, certain sections of the film utilizes bright vfx that were initially off-putting to the eyes. Nonetheless, I believe that once the viewer becomes acclimated to the bright luminescence, it proves to be effectively disorienting. The effects also gives the scenarios a unique flair, especially for the supernatural context of the scenes.

I want to praise the film's cast. Everyone brought something different to the screen, especially actor Regine Monte-Louis who portrayed the main antagonist Mama Dominique. Every moment she was on screen was unpredictably fun. Monte-Louis played Mama with a domineering charm that made the interactions she shared with her violent flock of punk followers tense yet excitingly animated.

In short Indie-Horror fans can rejoice! Voodoo Virus is unlike most horror thrillers you'll find on the market today. It successfully merges varying themes other productions wouldn't attempt to develop. I highly recommend!