Director: Eddie Lengyel
Year: 2019
Country:
Alternate Titles:
Genre: Supernatural Slasher
Plot:
After being stolen from a spiritualists’ supply shop, a group of friends decides to play a game with a supposedly cursed shrunken head said to belong to a murderous female entity and when they start dying one-by-one realize they’ve become the target of the malicious entity.
Review:
Overall, this one was an incredibly troubling effort. Among the many problems featured here is the film’s overbearing low-budget that is quite obvious throughout here. The opening attack scene on the last surviving members of a previous run-in with the figure details many of these issues, ranging from being filmed in so much lighting that it ruins the suspense of its appearance to actually seeing the main protagonist which is a common occurrence here. There’s plenty of general filmmaking tactics where everything looks cramped and closed-in, or are rushed through to the point of being obvious about the quality and budget. Likewise, with the excess padding here due to so many unnecessary scenes which don’t need to be there, from the scenes of the guy setting up the live podcast around town to the girls arguing over their involvement with the stolen head and the forced emotional ties over the murders, the pacing is generally off because of the budget and pushes the kills pretty late in the film.
However, that exposes another major issue in the \sloppily edited and underwhelming attack scenes. These are a major factor within here, as it starts off immediately with a comically inept opening sequence that’s laughably low-budget but also ends up giving up the appearance of the main protagonist without any kind of build-up to capitalize on its creepy appearance before ending on a victim trying to escape detection behind a glass shower door. The main factor here, keeping the main villain hidden until very late in the film, also ruins the drunk-driving encounter and the attack on the assistant by giving away not only that it’s following them but also getting to see the spirits’ face clearly when keeping the face hidden longer would’ve added far more atmosphere to these scenes. Coupled with the lack of gore in the majority of the kills, these here manage to hold the film back for the most part.
This one does have a few solid aspects featured here. That mainly revolves around the titular curse at play which is fairly unique and enjoyable. The urban legend at the center of the story, told in flashback with a narration of the legend, gives this an appropriately quaint feel by feeling like a genuine game made up from a historical figure in the area taking the idea of the jilted woman and turning her into the terrifying demonic entity she’s now known as. This is fine for providing some creepy moments here from the appearance of the somewhat creepy being that uses some fine work of her appearing at the various locations to claim her victims, especially the finale where it features several rather fun chases around the building to get its last victim ends this on a decent enough twist which is rather fun. While these aren’t enough to overcome the flaws, they do manage to hold it up somewhat.
Overview: **.5/5
With some solid overall aspects and a couple of missteps that drag this down somewhat, there’s enough here to make this watchable but that’s about all this one can raise itself up to be. Give this a chance if you’re a fan of these low-budget genre efforts or curious about it, while those looking for more substantial genre efforts should look elsewhere.
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