Director: Alberto Corredor
Year: 2024
Country: Germany/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Following her father’s death, a woman learns that she’s inherited a pub he used to own along with a bizarre creature locked away in the basement with the power to assume the dead with conditions attached, and the more she tries to play with the figures’ rules the deeper into the darkness she falls.
Review:
This was enjoyable enough for what it is but still has some big drawbacks. Most of the positives to this one manage to come from the rather strong setup where it features a strikingly original premise. The initial idea of the pub being haunted by the mythical creature who’s found tied up and locked away in the basement with what seems to be a ritualistic ceremony for visitors looking to utilize the strange powers it possesses for their own purposes is a fine enough idea of what can come from the exploitation of power and greed. Realizing that she can control it and hoping to use that power for herself to help her out of her financial constraints offers a fine starting point here. The introductory scenes to bring everything together are fine enough and show off the gruesome ability makes for a rather solid time here with getting this unleashed and turned into something quite creepy in concept although this is really about all the film has going for it.
There are a few factors to be had here that really bring this one down. The main drawback here is the seemingly unbelievable nature that she has with how easily the entire process can win her over. Rather than spend the time to learn the rules of what’s going on in the basement or who she is, the immediate acceptance of the situation is incredibly hard to believe as the scenario where it occurs is so outlandish that to not have it phase her makes the whole thing even more unrealistic doing this without learning of the rules or reacting to what’s going on is immensely frustrating since it really grains a lot of the fear out of the constant attempts to communicate with knowing the entire time the main character is being this irrational and stupid. The contradictory nature of her relationships throughout here where she’s such a hypocrite that it’s just impossible to care or feel sorry for her with this kind of starting point.
The other factor against this one is the wholly underwhelming and confusing final half where it just becomes a series of underwhelming twists and betrayals that have long since run the point of care or interest. Since we’ve already lost the point of caring about what’s going on with the figure’s powers corrupting the clueless owner, the series of exploits here figuring out the series of twists and turns that take place involving the motivations for what goes on here as that turns everything into a rather solid attempt at setting up a thrilling finish but it just plods along with barely any interest. As well, there’s also the wholly underwhelming CGI use here which is absolutely shoddy and dreadful-looking for what’s going on, taking some of the most pitiful imagery possible using the flames to try to cover up the action being presented here and completely destroying the illusion presented. These factors all manage to hold it down overall.
Overview: */5
A massively underwhelming effort without much going for it, this one has a few solid points to enjoy about it but manages to get brought down by a slew of negatives that leave this one a misguided opportunity. Those who are intrigued by the concept or don’t mind the negatives will have the most to like about it while most others out there should heed caution.
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