This was a movie that was sent over to me as a screener thanks to Erika from Gold Dust Public Relations. Since I like to support independent cinema when I can, I agree to check this out and review the movie. Being that this is a 2024 released horror film, that also helped as well. Other than that, I thought the title sounded interesting.
Synopsis: fallen journalist rents a home, finds a decaying body inside the wall. A string of murders reveals demonic worshipping clan hunting humans. He must navigate an evil plot to survive.
We start this out with text and a cockroach crawling around it. The lines are 'when a demon leaves a man, it goes to the dry places, looking for rest. Finding none...it returns'. It then shifts to a guy cut his hand on a screw. He's bleeding into the sink. It also seems like he's talking to someone, but we don't see who. He's then attacked.
This then shifts over to Jonathan Birdsall (Adam Holley) who is the reporter from the synopsis. He has taken over the house that we saw in the opening sequence. He is prepping himself for an interview that he's going to conduct. That's when he hears something inside the wall. He also cuts his hand like the earlier tenant.
Jon then gets spooked when Isaac (Joshua Sedelmeyer), who is the caretaker, appears in his kitchen. He is there to set a trap to catch a racoon. He also tells Jon about tools that were left there. Using a drill, Jon finds a body behind the mirror of his bathroom. He reaches out to the local sheriff, played by Jan DeAngelo. He shows up with a deputy named Clint (Tim O'Hearn). The sheriff wants Jon to sign that he'll pay to have the wall knocked down to get the body out. He refuses, saying that the owner of the house should do this. The sheriff gives him a day to figure it out before they come back.
The person that Jon is wanting to talk to is Debra Banks (Jessica Nogaret). She knows about fracking in the area, but others have interviewed her. It never seems to go anywhere. Jon needs this story to fix his career. It sounds like he wrote an article, but didn't have the proof he needed so he lost his position with a newspaper. Debra doesn't trust him, especially since he's drinking the whole time. Things take a turn when the trap that Isaac sets up shreds a racoon. It covers them both in blood. Debra uses the shower here where she's attacked by something. It doesn't help that she's pregnant as well.
Jon sees there could be another story here, one that he wasn't expecting to stumble on. There's a paper behind the mirror in the bathroom. It might reveal a cult and a ritual they're performing here. He doesn't know who all is involved though and meddling with forces behind his understanding.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this has an interesting concept here. It feels like our writer/director of Joshua Recene saw The Exorcist or other films about possession, then decided what happened if the spirit left and then came back. I do like this idea, especially with this ritual here. Just the fact that we have that and a cult using forces they don't truly understand checked boxes for me. It pulled me in.
Now that I've set that up, let me dive into what I liked here. There's a creepy set up where Jon finds this dead body behind the mirror of his bathroom. That is terrifying. There are aspects here that go into the realm of unbelievability. I don't think the police would just leave this body here like they do. I'm forgiving after a reveal later, I will say that. We have this cult running in a small town, which I can buy. This ritual also creates its own lore. What I'll disclose here is that the more demons you allow in you, the more power you have. If it works out this way is something this explores, but I dig that idea. Reminds me of something from Hereditary.
My issue here is that the story is messy. I was lost for a good stretch of this and it didn't hold my interest. It doesn't seem like they fully knew how to start the main story and just go right into it. There are threads that confused me, so it wasn't until this was hitting the climax that it clicked. It didn't pull me back in though, which was a bummer due to all the good things that it had.
I'll then go brief with the acting performances. The reason for this is that we have an amateur cast that is working with a small budget. Holly was fine as our lead. It goes over the top with him drinking from a flask. It feels like they don't want us to forget that he's an alcoholic who is struggling. Nogaret worked as this pregnant woman who gets mixed in something she doesn't want to. Sedelmeyer was decent in his minor role. O'Hearn, DeAngelo, Janna Holley and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
All that is left is filmmaking. I'll say that the cinematography and framing was fine. They don't do anything negatively there which works. The limited practical effects we got were surprisingly solid. The look of the demon and a possessed dead man were good. This does rely on CGI which didn't hold up unfortunately. I did like what they do with this recurring cockroach and the reveal there. That's a good touch. Other than that, the soundtrack was fine for what was needed.
In conclusion, this had promising aspects to it. I did like that we have this cult doing rituals in this middle of nowhere town. It wouldn't shock me to learn things like this happen. There is mythology that gets introduced which is also a positive. This is held back by the budget. The acting was fine for what we got there. No one is great, but no one was horrible either. It felt amateur. The practical effects along with the cinematography and framing of shots worked. The CGI doesn't though. Not one that I can recommend to everyone. I will say that I'd like to see what this director/writer could do with more of a budget personally.
My Rating: 4 out of 10.
