Garden of Eden

The opening scene grabs ahold of you and doesn't let go until the final moment of the movie!! As soon as it opens you know you are in for a brutal, gory, violent ride not knowing where you will end up. This movie has a very Cinematic dynamic going on mixed with an Independent flair which combine to produce a true masterpiece. Joe Knetter wrote a terrific script here. The Eden Family are all written very well and fleshed out with great depth. A few of the kills are truly unique. Marcel Walz done a fantastic job directing and tying everything together. Horror Genre Legends Robert Rusler and Monique Parent both bring it and deliver the goods!! Sarah Polednak really brings her character Dominique to life!! Dazelle Yvette, GiGi Gustin, Jazz Egger and Sarah Nicklin also have stand out performances in their supporting roles. However what puts this movie on another level is the Phenomenally Ultra Talented Sarah French who is basically the walking definition of Beautiful. She puts everything into her role and brings Angelique to her devilish best!! Sarah delivers a very nuanced performance showing all the different sides and facets of her character. Whether she is giving a warm friendly smile to unsuspecting victims or giving a sly evil grin to let you know she is up to no good, you can't help but enjoy the journey you are on with her. If you are looking for a bloody good time do yourself a favor and watch this movie. Sarah, Joe and Marcel Produced this movie and all three should be very proud of what they achieved here.

I watched this as soon as I saw it on Amazon VOD! As a huge fan of All of Marcel Walz' films ("Rootwood", "Blood Feast", "Blind", "Pretty Boy" among others!), and a fan of the radiant Sarah French, I wasted no time!

The story is more allegorical than linear-plot driven, concerning a highly wealthy and religious family, who host elaborate masquerade-parties, for well-heeled invitees, with the enticement of having one guests' "ultimate wish" fulfilled. The caveat here is that the outcomes are predetermined, and essentially based in revenge and punishment! The tale unfolds over the course of several months, with the ultimate fate of the well-meaning but ultimately corrupted pious family reaping their karmic rewards for their deeds.

The acting is top-notch across the board, with the always fabulous Sarah French playing a sinister turn in contrast to her usual "good-girl" roles! The direction is stylish and full of surreal imagery, and gore-fans will not be disappointed! Definitely a must-watch!

Was very looking forward to this movie with a cast of great scream queens. And it was visually very nice to look at.. but it seemed like it had no direction and the curse of any movie is that it was Boring. Sarah French, Monique Parent and Sarah Nicklin tried with little they had to work with but the stand out if there was any was Gigi Gustin. Overall not recommended.

Barely five minutes in, my excitement for one of my most anticipated horror releases of the year had already taken a hit. I'd been waiting since 2024 for this film (originally slated for release that year before being pushed to 2025), and within moments I felt the hype slipping away.

This is indie, low-budget horror, so I want to be fair and acknowledge both its strengths and its flaws. Some of the visuals are striking, effectively capturing the hallucinatory, almost 1970s exploitation-film aesthetic that Marcel Walz seems to be aiming for, thanks to the use of natural lighting.

Garden of Eden blends elements of drug-induced delusions, religious fervour (snakes, statues, crucifixes, and other religious iconography), and sexual repression-particularly towards women-into a surreal fever dream that occasionally plagues the film and hints at something evil lurking within their home. The gore works best in still moments rather than during the action, offering a few strong, if brief, horror-tableau images.

Unfortunately, the problems set in quickly. Around the half-hour mark-in a film that runs over two hours-I was already fighting boredom. The narrative meanders endlessly, circling through repetitive, underdeveloped ideas. It toys with big ideas-women's rights, LGBTQIA+ issues, gender politics, cult fanaticism-but never commits, leaving each as a shallow suggestion rather than meaningful commentary, lurching into yet another gratuitous but oddly hollow gore scene.

The dialogue doesn't help. Often awkward, it undercuts even the better horror moments-including one involving a fishing rod that should have been shocking, but instead drew more laughter than gasps. We've seen these beats done far more effectively elsewhere.

Editing is where the film really loses its footing. There are glimpses of a stylish, confident horror movie trying to break through-a well-framed shot here, a clever transition there-but they're buried in a jumble of jarring cuts, awkward scene transitions, and moments that feel stitched together without rhythm. Sequences don't build tension so much as stumble from one to the next, leaving the pacing uneven and the emotional beats flat.

The result is less a cohesive narrative and more a moodboard of ideas that never quite click together, as if the film couldn't decide whether it wanted to be art-house horror, exploitation shocker, or surrealist fever dream-so it settled for being a confused mix of all three.

Blunt advice: don't let sponsored influencers convince you this is a hidden gem. Watch what genuinely interests you and form your own opinion-whether that's positive or negative. Garden of Eden isn't salvation-it's cinematic purgatory. Watch only if you're assembling a so-bad-it's-funny double feature, and keep the other movie ready to save your night.