sfairgrieve-908-872509

Apparently, "hagazussa" means roughly "witch" in Old German, which is appropriate since this film feels a lot like Robert Eggers's "The Witch", set in the Austrian Alps instead of New England. Both tell the story of an isolated young woman struggling with her sexuality, in a paranoid and superstitious world where people believe God and Satan are actively fighting for the souls of humans.

The films are stylistically and tonally similar, using slow and quiet pacing, dark tones, a beautiful but harsh environment, (and even some creepy goats), to tell a story filled with dread and ambiguity. It's all topped off by an outstanding soundtrack by the Greek drone masters MMMD.

Many people criticized "The Witch" for being slow and boring, and "Hagazussa" is even more so (there's maybe 50 lines of dialog), so this film will leave most viewers cold. But if you like your horror slow, moody and creepy, with some art house touches, then you should check this one out.

This is a gem of a low-budget horror movie from Indonesia that I saw on Shudder. Using a minimum of gore, effects, and CGI, it manages to tell a surprisingly effective ghost story.

It's set in a creepy old house in the woods next to a cemetery. How many times have we seen that before? Yet the movie sets the perfect atmosphere as it takes its time developing the characters and unfolding the story. The scares are well-earned and innovative, the story is engaging, and the performances are solid. The ghosts were very well done. The black-clad Satanists with umbrellas were great. But the horde of zombie-like creatures at the end were a bit too much for me. That being said, this is still an exceptionally well made film that will likely be in my top 10 horror movies of 2018.

Note: Shudder has two versions of the movie: subtitled and English dubbed. I watched the subtitled version, and then watched some key scenes in the dubbed version. I definitely recommend the subtitled version. It takes more work but you are rewarded by retaining more the crucial tone and atmosphere.

At about the halfway point of this movie, there is a quick cut to the TV in our protagonist's bedroom, and there's a DVD of The Wicker Man propped against the TV. That's director Roundtree's acknowledgment of his influence, and the influence is strong - a person from mainstream society comes to an isolated community after one of them dies, encounters some very odd characters, and, through persistence, learns that the society is hiding a dark and deadly secret.

Consistent with the folk horror tropes, we get lots of shots of the bleakly beautiful countryside and seaside settings. It's a slow burn that creates unease and builds dread. And it introduces a secretive group that practices ancient, non-Christian rituals.

Those are all positives, but the film stumbles a bit, mostly in its execution. It's a low budget, independent release, so I cut it some slack, but I felt that the editing at times was a bit clunky, and there was too much use of shaky handheld cameras, odd angles, and extreme close-ups that obscured what was happening. The story, as stated above, is not particularly original, and some of the acting was sub-par.

All of that being said, though, this is a promising directorial debut, and an enjoyable contribution to the folk horror sub-genre.