Director: Nicholas Kleban
Year: 2019
Country: Canada
Alternate Titles: 1594
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Trying to work on a new project, a woman uncovers a strange cassette tape that leads her into discovering the legend of a time-traveling sorcerer who imprinted an evil spell on a video-tape to spread his evil throughout time, and realizing she’s caught in his web of evil tries to stop it.
Review:
This was a pretty decent if flawed indie effort. Among it’s better features is a rather enjoyable setup that brings about some genuinely creepy elements. The main thing is the gradual uncovering of the mystery surrounding the demonic figure, from the backstory of the tape and the visuals presented on the video combining nicely to make for a great starting point. The legend it tells is quite chilling about the sorcerer and his devious minions keeping him alive throughout history and gets the film going quite nicely.
As well, the other really enjoyable element here is the series of supernatural attacks that spring forth once she’s been targeted by the sorcerer. Relying on a near-continuous assault of scenes where people turn around and reveal themselves to actually be involved with the demonic pact by ripping their face off or attacking her suddenly with threatening weapons causing her to become paranoid and constantly freaked-out. This is realistic and quite enjoyable to see play out as the graphic gore here comes off with a lot to like overall.
There are a few issues with this one. One of the biggest drawbacks to this one is the overt and obvious low-budget tone that manages to become quite ever-present throughout here. Not only is the low-quality production style evident but numerous other indie factors are found here, from the general lack of purpose behind many of the scenes which seem to have little reason for being there, inane conversations and set-pieces supposedly intended to give depth to the characters but instead have little interest at all and very little rhyme or reason for being included.
The other problem with the film is a wholly confusing final act that doesn’t make any sense at all. As the allegiances shift and turn unexpectedly, the shock of their true nature is supposed to blind you to the fact that these don’t make any logical sense, much like the existence of the cult that comes out of nowhere and is then summarily killed off without incident. Combined with an overlong and meandering finale that just keeps going and doesn’t know when to end things, these aspects are what hold the film back the most.
Overview: *.5/5
While not a complete waste at all as there are some enjoyable elements here, the vast majority of this one is undone by the low-budget feel and a convoluted finish that goes on way too long. Give this a look if you’re a big fan of indie horror or find this kind of supernatural-tinged effort interesting, while those turned off by the flaws should heed extreme caution.
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