Rating: C-
Dir: Jason Pitts
Star: Annie Sullivan, James Stokes, Alivea Disney, Scott Doss
I can’t help but feel this gets off on the wrong foot, and never manages to recover. It begins with a woman, Kathy, giving birth with the help of her sister. But there’s something clearly “off”: after the birth, Kathy takes her child and flees from the rural community. Years later, the daughter, Chloe (Sullivan) is almost grown, living with her mom and stepdad, Ken (Stokes). Then, Kathy gets a bouquet of flowers with an ominous message, and minutes later, flees their apartment and vanishes without a trace. If it hadn’t been for that prologue, this would have been an immediately engaging way to start. But the audience probably knows too much.
Certainly, we know more than Chloe. So rather being brought along on the journey as she seeks to uncover the mysteries behind Kathy’s abrupt departure, we’re left waiting for her to catch up. A year later, she gets a clue when she learns about a cabin in the Ozarks, and despite the disapproval of Ken, heads there with her girlfriend Ava (Disney). Stepdad follows them a bit later, and by the time he arrives, the women have already found a helpful occult tome related to the demon Malphus. Cult leader Julian (Doss) then shows up, and fills in the blanks. Kathy knew her new-born daughter had the traits needed to be part of a ritual to summon Malphus, and vanished rather than have that happen.
The positives here are mostly to be found in the performances. The most enjoyable – if not necessarily the best – is by Doss, who chews the scenery to fine effect, and looks every inch the embodiment of his character. If you called up central casting, and asked for them to send you a Satanic cult leader, he would be their first choice. Stokes is a little less effective: there are points early on where he struggles with the more emotional side. However, once he goes into “ex-GI, peeved stepdad” mode, he’s more credible. Sullivan and Disney have to do a fair amount of dramatic lifting, and the latter seemed kinda superfluous for a long while. Keyword: “seemed”. Ava does serve a critical purpose, eventually.
However: damn, this is chatty, and everyone seems guilty of loving the sound of their own voices. Chloe, Julian – even Malphus, when he shows up, appear to believe they are getting paid by the word. The sacrificial ritual isn’t a quick stab and bleed either, it’s a three-part process, which appears to take longer to complete than applying for a green card. All that’s missing is fingerprints and a background check, and to a viewer, it’s likely about as interesting. I found a brief period of enthusiasm, when we went inside Chloe’s mind, for a series of disorienting visions. It didn’t last, and before long we resumed our long-stay holiday in Chatistan. The poster may be a tacit admission of the film’s biggest weakness, which would have been mitigated by more duct-tape.