cult-44100

I want to preface this by saying I thought Presence was a good movie. The acting, camera work, storytelling - all hit the mark for me.

That being said, I wouldn't classify this as a horror film, and I didn't find it scary at all. Suspenseful? Sure, at times. However, the "twist" was relatively easy to catch on to pretty early in the film, and figuring that out sort of detracts from the experience.

I would categorize this film as more of a family drama, with an interesting and unique take on the classic ghost stories of the past. If you're looking for a film to truly scare you, this one isn't it. Almost all of the ghostly happenings are shown in the trailer as well, which was disappointing.

I won't lie, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece here. The film was clearly made with an indie budget, and I went in knowing and respecting that. I'm also a huge fan of novelist Adam Cesare, who wrote this film (although not the original story).

The first 30 minutes or so had me hooked - the cult was creepy, their motive was mysterious, and the confined setting of a bowling alley is perfect for a close-quarters slasher. At a certain point, it started to completely fall apart. Horrible acting by the lead guy in particular. I wasn't sure if they made his character intentionally ridiculous or not but it did not serve the film - he was neither funny nor convincing.

And after a cringe-worthy climax, the movie literally just sort of ends. No explanation. What was the goal of the cult? What was their grand mathematical plan? A lack of explanation can be very effective, leaving certain things to the viewers' imaginations. This was not the case here.

Horror comedies are obviously difficult to make - they mostly end up either filled with jump scares or too much "comedy" that rarely, if ever, sticks the landing.

Steer clear of this one, but don't let that stop you from checking out Cesare's novels - the man knows horror and he knows how to write it well.

Between the horrible acting, lack of plot, and magical disappearing/ reappearing items, this "film" had me laughing out loud. For a movie that takes place entirely on a front porch, the least we could do is have some continuity here. The sandwich and water bottle constantly appearing and disappearing had me cracking up. This has me convinced that I should now be a film maker, as it clearly doesn't take much.

The acting is laughably bad. The guy is a douchebag and the girl had the personality of a paper plate. I think the best actor in the film was one of the chairs, it was the only thing that stayed in place and truly did it's job well.

Worth a laugh if you're bored, but literally 0/10.