Totem

"Totem" is a Mystery - Horror movie in which we watch a troubled family facing a supernatural entity while trying to find the balance on their between relationships.

Since I didn't have high expectations from this movie I wasn't disappointed by it. Despite its potential and the well-crafted eerie and tense atmosphere the movie didn't succeed on not being predictable including some jump scares that were very old-fashioned. Also it contained some plot holes since it left too many questions unanswered. I found myself waiting for something more substantial to develop including some of the characters. In addition, the interpretations of the cast were solid, particularly Kerris Dorsey who played as Kellie and conveyed both a sense of fear and vulnerability. Lastly, I have to say that "Totem" is an average horror movie. It had a few haunting moments but it was more confusing than satisfying.

All I knew about this 2017 movie when I sat down to watch it in 2020 was that it was a horror movie. And that is, in itself, more than sufficient to make me have an interest in watching a movie.

I hadn't even heard about director Marcel Sarmiento's movie "Totem" before 2020 when I happened to stumble upon it by random chance.

I must say that the movie had potential, and it definitely scores some points for being different, whereas it could very easily just have followed that classic how-to-make-a-horror movie formula. But while the movie does differ in its contents than most other horror movies of the same type, the movie just failed to deliver on the entertainment bits. Sure, the movie was watchable, but when the movie can to an end, I was left with a feeling of 'was that really it?'.

The acting in the movie was good, and for me it is always nice to see new talents on the screen, and I can't claim to have been familiar with anyone starring or acting in "Totem", so that also does count for something.

For a horror movie, then "Totem" wasn't overly impressive. It was more of a thriller than it was a horror movie. I sat down to watch "Totem" with the expectation of it being a horror movie, so I was somewhat disappointed in that aspect.

The movie makes little use of CGI, so this wasn't a movie that was heavily reliant on CGI effects to bedazzle the audience. There was some, and they were actually good enough for the movie.

"Totem", however, just felt incomplete, as if something very crucial to the mixture was missing. I can't say what it was, but I feel like the movie came in short. It felt like director Marcel Sarmiento set out to want to accomplish a bit too many things all at the same time, but managing to deliver only on a handful of them. And that is why I am rating it four out of ten stars.

After he moves his new girlfriend in, a family finds a series of strange events occurring around them that convinces everyone something supernatural is plaguing the house and forces them to confront a deadly truth from their past in order to escape from the menace.

This here turned out to be quite the decent enough offering. One of the more enjoyable features here is the fact that there's an incredibly strong and engaging central storyline at the heart of the film. The concept of the family unit, struggling after the weight of their mother's death and now having the new girlfriend moving in while they're clearly still adjusting to the loss is quite a fine starting point here, which is built upon here with the way this one slowly moves into the supernatural from this original setup. Basing the exploits around the house on the mother seeking revenge and not on the new woman coming into their lives which all manages to give this one a rather fun start here with the start of the supernatural coming into focus in the second half. These hauntings, ranging from the simple scenes of the ghostly figure wandering around in the background to the expected scenes of ghostly visions and flashes coming across which really gives this one quite a fun finale that comes across with all the rather enjoyable supernatural antics possible here with the with the arrival of the ghost and the full-on twist featured here that really inverts the whole rest of the film in a fine manner. That picks up the pace considerably with some absolutely fun confrontations that pack in the final half which really ends this on a high note. These here manage to hold this one up over it's few issues. The biggest problem with the film is the overall pacing, which is just rather harsh on this one. The opening drama here does take so long to get going with the drama- like feel of the material involving the adjustment to the new mother that interrupts the family dynamic to a large degree so this one has such a dour pace to start off with. That keeps the supernatural antics to a distressingly small portion of time overall here due to this buildup that it at times can feel like not even being a horror film for most of this section. Most of these are crammed into such a small section of the film that it really doesn't maintain that tone for a large portion of time and that really does hold this one down for the most part. That goes along with the last flaw here in that the film's attempts at jump-scares aren't all that impressive here as it dwells on a series of predictable scenes here, from cats jumping out of the darkness and the flash visions of the ghosts popping out of nowhere which really makes what happens quite redundant. Overall, though, it still has some decent moments though.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

The actors did a great job from what I could tell. The director, Marcel Sarmiento, is well known for Deadgirl, which I have not seen but many where hopeful he would top. Although Marcel is credited for writing the story, the story and screenplay was written by Evan Dickson, of which it is Evan's first feature film.

The movie starts off with an interesting premise and held my attention the first half. The cinematography is fine but later it becomes obvious they were working with a limited budget.

Two-thirds into the movie things start to go awry and although the pace picks up I felt the story gets more unbelievable not just in decisions that are made but with distractions that make it obvious there might have been editing issues.

The saving grace is there is a twist at the end that most people would not have seen coming but it was not enough for me to say it is a must see unless you are a fan of the actors or the director.

Saw 'Totem', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.

Giving 'Totem' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be far better than expected. Won't say that 'Totem' is a great film because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.

'Totem' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue.

Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected, and the music, which not the most memorable in the world, didn't detract from the atmosphere.

The setting is effectively spooky and some of the lead acting at times was not bad. There are spooky and suspenseful moments and it isn't dull. The direction doesn't feel phoned in and the storytelling in the first half does intrigue.

However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, some dropped soon after being introduced, go nowhere or serve much point.

Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense, scares could have been more consistent and some weren't surprising enough.

Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a bit of cheese going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making. The support acting is even more problematic than the second half's storytelling, at best it was poor and too often terrible.

Overall, better than expected but not great still. 5/10 Bethany Cox