Rating: B
Dir: Michael Escobedo, Juan de Dios Garduño, Hana Kazim, Gonzalo Mellid, Raffael Oliveri
Star: Valentina Mas, Adriana Torrebejano, Mansoor Alfeeli, Maria Olsen
As you can probably tell from the lengthy list of directors above, this is a horror anthology, linked by the general theme of demonic possession. The strand connecting them is about Ellie (Mas), a girl who is rescued by a cop from the grasp of a serial killer priest (subtly named Ted Gacy!). She is put in the care of Saint Catherine’s Institute, which takes care of young girls “who have suffered unusual episodes”, training them in the art of spiritual warfare. The mother superior was excommunicated for “unorthodox practices forbidden by the Vatican.” In particular, it’s a warehouse for cursed objects from Satanic rituals, now used in that training. The rest of the film are stories of some of these totems, and the incidents which led them to come into the Institute’s possession, as well as the nature of Ellie’s own troubles.
Its structure is initially a little loose. Things unfold in a manner that, especially initially, seems fairly disjointed in nature, and you’re largely left to put the pieces together yourself. I don’t think we fully realized it was an anthology of separate stories until close to the half-way point: when we did, things made considerably more sense the rest of the way, and we were able to appreciate things all the better. This is certainly a dark picture, to the point of deliberately gloomy. For instance, it appears St. Catherine’s are trying to save on their electric bill, so when Ellie is told “Don’t be afraid to step into the light,” my reaction was more or less,”If you could turn them on, that’d help…”
But it’s entirely fitting for the topic, and although the episodes are helmed by different people, do possess a commonality of tone. That isn’t always the case for anthologies like this, and it helps ensure a consistent experience for the viewer. I think my favourite was probably Makr, from Hana Kazim, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates. Traditionally, possession movies have tended to take a Catholic approach (probably with a big C and a small one!), but this is a good illustration that non-Christian religions can have similar phenomena. Admittedly, this should not be a shock if you’re a regular here, and have read our reviews of Turkish horror franchises Dabbe and Siccin.
What’s interesting here though, is that the holy man concerned is a fraud, who uses concealed electrical apparatus to trigger spasms in the afflicted. However, when he finds himself face-to-face with a genuine case of possession, he quickly finds himself out of his depth. Putting aside the religious specifics, it offered a fresh take on the topic. But there are really no bad stories here: they all have something to offer. That’s something of a rarity in anthologies, and even someone entirely secular such as myself, found themselves holding their breath, and waiting to see what would emerge from the darkness next.