Director: Jesse T. Thomas
Year: 2022
Country: Canda
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Cult; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Years after a personal tragedy, a disgraced cult-buster sees an opportunity to revive his career when a woman requires his services to get her husband out of a dangerous cult he unknowingly joined and can't escape from, forcing him to utilize his old skill-set to get him out and bring down the cult.
Review:
This was a pretty solid and enjoyable genre outing. One of the better features here is the rather fun atmosphere that comes about throughout here. The initial look at the scandal that affected his show by inadvertently causing the mass suicide of the members he was supposed to save is a fine way to get this going with a goofy 80s-styled Action hero at the forefront of the film. This is just as much fun as the early work here setting up his return by focusing on the covertness of the cult's front and how they manage to go about an operation without being detected with the blinding tranquility and duplicitous brainwashing that goes on at the facility. Coupled with the series of revelations about the cult's purpose and how they exist, the whole thing is quite fun and well-handled.
That goes along nicely with the action scenes here battling the cult's members trying to stop their dangerous plans. The first confrontation in her home where she's unaware of their purpose for being there until it's too late and requires the busters' help to save her gives this a decent enough start with some fun stalking as well as a nice resolution. Another brawl with cult members in the hideout serves this one nicely enough, and the big finale here offers a bigger sense of action involving the twist capture of what they're intending with the ceremony and how they're doing it. The back-and-forth battles that emerge in this section trying to keep control of the situation as the cult tries to ensure the ceremony goes off while they try to stop them have some nice action and gore here which all makes for a fun enough time with this one.
There are some flaws to be had here. One of the biggest detriments to be had here comes from the stilted pacing that comes about trying to build up a credible threat to the cult. Focusing on the subplots involving the rivalry at the realtor's company, the disgraced show host looking to reclaim his past glory or the cult's secret operations serves this one incredibly well to get the plot points sorted out but also manages to keep the cult activity, and by proxy, a lot of the horror elements off-screen for a large portion of the early half here. That can make for a somewhat difficult time getting into this one, much like the cult-buster himself who's a bit of a wildcard that's so over-the-top he can be a bit much to take, all of which result in bringing this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
A highly enjoyable genre effort with a lot to like about it, there are only a few issues to be had with this one that holds it down which manage to make for a fun time here. Those who are intrigued by this one based on the positives or are fans of this style will have a lot to like here while most others should heed caution.
This review was originally published as part of our coverage of the 2022 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival. Click the banner below for all of our coverage of the festival:
Comments
Post a Comment