Director: Eric Williford
Year: 2024
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After a hit-and-run accident, a couple brings the victim home with them to figure out what to do with him and manage to kill him before burying him in the backyard, but when a strange woman arrives who saw everything it sets everyone off into a night of demonic possession and other terrors.
Review:
This was a generally fun genre effort. One of the best aspects here is the wholly intriguing setup that offers a fantastic starting point to unleash the type of terrifying material present. The initial reveal of the couple who just went through the accident off-screen but are getting caught up in the unraveling situation where they have to regroup around what’s going on as the situation slowly revolves around killing and then burying the body in the backyard to prevent anyone from finding out what had happened gets this off to an intriguing start. With the exploits also drawing a fine line into their relationship far earlier than the unhinged nature of what’s going on when the strange woman arrives and starts to psychologically toy with the wife in the form of bizarre seduction tactics or outright announcing what’s going on, this first half is generally inviting the more it starts to introduce new points into the storyline.
As these elements provide the basis for a fine mystery about what’s happening, the second half brings about some rather solid and impressive means for capitalizing on the setup. The series of incidents here involving either the strange woman or the secondary stranger who visits the house warning them about what happens to the dead who are buried there serves nicely to bring a generally over-the-top series of ideas hinting that something’s happening to them. Ranging from the couple trying to cut a body to pieces to save themselves, the reassembled figure returning to transfer the demonic entity into one of them, and the ensuing madness that arises once that takes place as the pieces that showcase a demonic possession have taken shape with the way she starts acting. Since this brings about some fine action and rather solid gore as a result, there’s a lot to like here that holds this one up overall.
There isn’t much to dislike here at all. Among its few issues is the somewhat rushed nature of the setup here that gives everything quite a bizarre feel with very few actions or backstories explained properly. It takes a while before it comes out that the couple are married or who was driving the car that hit the passenger, while the strange feature of not revealing what the stranger’s dark secret is makes this aspect of the film come off like a twist for the sake of a twist. Since it’s about trying to keep it a secret, the fact that we don’t get any idea about what she is, what the point of the possession is, or how the whole thing operates means that we don’t get as much out of the final half as we should due to the inability to know what the rules of the possessed are. None of this is all that detrimental or damaging in the slightest, but it is enough to lower this one just slightly.
Overview: ***.5/5
An incredibly fun and likable genre effort, there’s enough to like here that it comes off incredibly well for what it is as the few drawbacks are thankfully not too detrimental at holding this back. Give it a look if you appreciate this brand of indie feature or are curious about it while most others out there should heed caution with it.
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