Director: Warren P. Sonoda
Year: 2007
Country: Canada
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Sent to a Christian reformatory school, a young teen finds that the other women there are just like her, gathered together by an ancient prophecy to open the long-closed gates to other dimensions home to ravenous demons, and that they have to stop it before they can arrive on Earth.
Review:
This one was a really above-average film. One of the finer aspects of this one is the fact that this one changes the way a possession takes place which is a nice specialty. Rather than being able to take control of anyone, this one stipulates rules that the incredibly religious are off-limits, for it won't work on them. Through the use of voodoo, a pentagram and Latin spells, the demon comes forth and the victim becomes possessed which is quite different, and although it doesn't really go together since all of them conflict with each other, they do make for a fantastic scene. The location of the fighting also works, since the place is really creepy. The majority of this comes from the backstory given here that offers up a rather strong and impressive religious-based storyline that works in not only regular religious outcomes but also brings together several different setups into the main setup. Including the voodoo aspects of the scenes in the attic featuring their battle with the various students possessed by the demons which not only has the payoff from the beginning but adds in some more fun to be had with the final showdown being a long, action-packed feature that contains so many different ways to stay enjoyable that the film ultimately gets incredibly fun and exciting. Added together with the fine make-up on the ghosts as some of them can be quite shocking and get a few jolts, these here really make the film enjoyable.
The cast here is quite enjoyable for this type of film. The lead Alex Garrison, played by Jennifer Miller, comes off rather nicely here as the unjustly sentenced teen who feels she's been imprisoned simply to be rid of her and gets stuck in the situation presented. She seems to be the nicest one there and manages to be rather intriguing as her slightly rebellious nature meshes well with their other attributes. As for the other girls of the group, Mara played by Jordan Madley, is the ultra rebellious lesbian with an edge. She tries to assert her authority over the others and initially seems to be a loner out for herself but soon comes around to helping them in their quest. The others, though, aren't as impressive starting with Cecilia, played by Terra Vnesa who is simply known as the blind one and doesn't do much here. Leah, played by Barbara Mamabolo, offers nothing but being the token minority and being a body to hop into later on. Connie, (Tasha May, who doesn't do much here but is the token Wiccan confused for being a witch in the group. As for the villains, Father Drake, played by the reliable Ron Perlman, is the priest in on their plans and does his best to convey authority without giving the game away. It's not much but his presence makes him fun to watch as he gets his comeuppance. His cohort, Headmistress Anna Pierce played by Amy Ciupak Lalonde, offers the prototypical butch authority figure more interested in inflicting pain than anything else and is suitably menacing throughout here.
This one doesn't do a whole lot wrong, but there are a few problems with it. The first flaw is that the film doesn't capitalize on several key areas as well as it should. The fact that most of the gore comes from non-lethal wounds or aftermath is slightly puzzling as there's a whole amount of deaths that result from the demon jumping into another body and the previous host collapsing with nothing graphic happening. This really should've been the case where it really amps up the gore to detail the different outcomes of the demons' attacks, which really could've provided this one with some more fun to be had with the more obvious destruction of the bodies. That really could've helped the few actual deaths even more. The other missed opportunity is the closet lesbianism on display. There's a few nods here and there towards it, but hardly anything occurs of it and a little extra sleaze would've been fine. The last flaw is that the body-hopping demon is such a cliché and done to death. This little trick comes into play in other films way too often, and this one is just the same. These here keep the film down somewhat.
Overview: *** 1/2/5
With a little more gore and sleaze, this really would've been a whole lot more acceptable but it's still pretty enjoyable as it is. This one is really recommended for those who enjoy the genre as well those who are slightly interested, while those who tire of this style and aren't that big on them won't find much here that other better ones provide.
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