Directed by Jason DeVan. Written by Jason and his wife, Heather DeVan with Dylan Matlock as well. Starring Sydney Sweeney, Jessica Barth, Matt Dallas, Bruce Davison, Madison Lintz, Austin Filson and Heather DeVan.
Plot: a demon stalks a girl with a troubled history when she returns to her hometown.
We should have known what was coming. This movie opens with a Bible verse, which is no different than opening with some other pretentious quote, and we should have seen that no good could come of that. But we watched anyway. Even after the Star Wars scroll happened. Yes, right after the Bible verse flashed on the screen, a Star Wars scroll started. It told us Ashley’s history – how Ashley’s mother, Sarah, mysteriously disappeared and she and her sister were left with their unfit father until the sister went off to college and Ashley went to live with Sarah’s sister, Tanya.
After the scroll is over, you meet Ashley (Sweeney) and Tanya (Barth) as they move back to the hometown in which Sarah went missing. Not sure why this was a good idea, but Tanya seems to think it is. As soon as they are back in town, something rather frightening starts stalking Ashley. It’s pretty alarming actually. It’s the best bit of the movie, this thing that follows her around.
Soon, Ashley meets up with some old friends, Hannah (Lintz), Shane (Filson) and others. She starts hearing things and seeing things and she’s convinced it all has to do with her mother, so her and Hannah do this little seance thing. What they see is NOT her mother though. It’s got horns and smells up the room and makes it cold. Somehow it changes Ashley’s demeanor and she bites Shane while kissing him and has other such “episodes” as well.
Hannah makes one stupid decision too many. Tanya does nothing, but make stupid decisions. By the time the Reverend (Davison) and Pastor John (Dallas) show up, there’s really little hope left.
The movie sets up these really long establishing shots which it doesn’t have time for and we don’t understand the point of. Things happen, texts are sent, that you never even get to see for some reason. Aside from the more well-known actors, the acting is not so good, especially from Barth, who can just not carry this much of a movie alone. It’s not really original, which I was pretty upset about. There were no real rules to speak of. The whole story was incomplete. It was just a hodgepodge of ideas thrown together. And the ending was quite abrupt. DJ did think it was fun though, but I disagreed. The only thing we both found awesome were the effects. It’s hard to believe, we know, but we were genuinely uncomfortable during certain scenes. They were nightmarish.
I suppose I could list my favorite movies here, but instead I'll give you a strange glimpse into what makes me TaraRomero.
1. I met George Romero. He was the kindest and sweetest man. He talked to me for longer than he should have with the line getting longer. He also held my hand. And when he noticed the ladybug I have tattooed on my wrist, he said he liked it and asked me it's name. Till then, it had not had a name. Now, I call him George.
2. I love stickers. All stickers. I just adore them. I even ask for stickers for Christmas! As a matter of fact, the birthday that just past, every member of my immediate family gave me sticker packs as gifts. Affordable and extremely appreciated.
3. I have never put much stock in astrology or horoscopes, but I LOVE the magic of the MBTI. Omg. I am an INFP and it actually sounds just like me. Introverted mostly. Creative always. Heart before head and not the most logical. Totally me! For better or worse.
4. It's no surprise I count horror so high up on the list of things that make me, me. However, it's so within my soul that I was part of the Horror Club in college. Interesting bunch. And even took a Horror Lit class as an elective. I got an A.
5. Coffee always makes me happy. Always. I'm particularly fond of caramel macchiatos. But I'll drink black coffee if it's the only thing available.
6. I hate shock for the sake of shock and endings that depress me. I always mention the movies Within (2016) and the Eli Roth produced, written and starred in, Aftershock (2012), as proof of this distate I have. I abhor the idea that just because I like horror, some people think I'd actually praise a movie that lets you think the "Final Girl" just made it through the night, only to slap her in the face with a tsunami.
7. We are big time animal people. I mean, if I could, I'd have an elephant, a bear, a zebra, a penguin, an otter and a meerkat, living with me. Seriously though. We have 2 dogs right now and 2 cats. Both cats we picked up when they each came to our front door hungry. And both dogs we got from 2 different sets of neighbors. Both who, unfortunately, don't know how to care for pets long-term. But they're happy and healthy now!!
8. Revisiting my love of horror, one of the above cats, my cat, is a little black guy named Church. Because Pet Sematary. His middle name is even Pascow. To give credit where credit's due, the name was DJ's idea. But he loves horror too!
9. I'm big into art. Along with movie posters and an Anne Frank quote, I have some actual paintings on my wall. I really think Dali paints beautifully when he wants to. And if I don't get to see Michaelangelo's Pieta in person some day, I will be very disappointed.
10. Lastly, I find Emily Dickinson's poetry intriguing. I took an elective course about her as well. But do you know I injected horror even there? I was given a poem to dissect and I picked one on death, of course. Then, I researched old "Death Photos" and even printed out copies for everyone in the class. They were so interested in looking at them that it stopped them from all looking at me, and I was able to deal quite well with my stage fright. Haha
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