Director: Christopher Bickel
Year: 2024
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Cult
Plot:
Working in a used record store, an eager employee tries to search for a fabled album from a legendary rock band from the 70s that’s rumored to be immensely rare and valuable due to a curse surrounding its release, leading the group to their still-running commune that holds a deadly secret.
Review:
This was a fantastic genre effort with a lot to enjoy about it. The main feature to enjoy here is one of the more likable storylines in this particular style that has quite a lot to like. The central premise involves the search for the album after coming into contact with the community and how rare their work is so that the eventual stumbling upon them and getting a chance to go visit them on their secret ranch feels entirely earned and worthwhile. The series of secondary features here, from the psychedelic nature of their music that’s designed to hook victims into their origin status, the hidden messages within the lyrics helping to expand their base, and the malicious antics in their beliefs, all bring about a vicious and rather chilling streak here following up on the fun first half that involves the search for their history and getting to know the group quite well.
It all leads nicely into the incredibly fun series of tortures that are immensely brutal and creative which makes things far more fun than they should. Taking the group to solated areas of the compound and using a series of tricks to drug them and start torturing everyone to complete a ritual of theirs, this one makes for a great time as the scenes involving the drummer being seduced and taking to their remote room, the friendly one being attacked in the kitchen, and the chase to bring the escaping friends in their bus all getting immensely fun elements added to the torture. With the enhanced psychedelic nature of everything due to the drug use being added to the experience so everything is wrapped in a disorienting haze with echoing voices and trippy visual aesthetics, this being far more than expected becomes a fantastic attribute here as the stellar indie effects and downbeat needing all add a lot to this pone leaving it a highly enjoyable time.
There isn’t a whole lot to knocking this down but it does have a few minor issues. Among its few drawbacks is the fact that it’s so obvious what’s going on at the commune that it’s not all that surprising what’s happening and can quite easily be seen what’s coming. Once they get there and realize that the group is far more devious than the hospitality lets on, it’s all accomplished in the same means that most other cult films of a similar vintage attempt feature which is the use of splitting them up, drugging them, and performing their rituals on everyone. This does make everything slightly less threatening and intimidating knowing what’s going on but it doesn’t knock it back that much. Very little of this one is explained or makes sense so it’s basically carnage for the sake of carnage as the brief bits about completing a special ritual are all we get here, which are the issues present with this one.
Overview: ****.5/5
A wholly impressive and likable genre effort, this is one of the finer films of the year and manages to get quite a lot of intriguing elements to counteract some of the few drawbacks within it. Those who appreciate this kind of indie fare, are curious about it, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here while those who aren’t into these kinds of fare will want to heed caution.
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