Your Mother Sucks EVIL in Hell! “The Exorcist: Believer” reviewed! (Universal Studios / 4K-Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on December 22, 2023

Let the Power of 4K Compel You! “The Exorcist Believer” from Universal Home Video!

Thirteen years after having to make the tough life-and-death choice between his wife and unborn child, Victor Fielding strives to protect his daughter now teenage daughter Angela, even if that means being a little overprotective. When Angela persuades her father for an afterschool study date with a friend, Angela’s seizes his moment of letting down his guard with real intentions to sneak into the woods with a different friend, Katherine. Eager to connect with the late mother she never knew, Angela evokes a simple rite to call upon her mother’s spirit. Three days later, Angela and Katherine are found in a barn, with no memory of days passed, and returned to their worried parents only to deteriorate with violent behavior, self-abuse, and an altered appearance that can’t be explained by science. Desperate, Victor is turned toward Chris MacNeil, author of similar experiences that happened to her daughter Regan 50-years ago, to help exorcise an entity that has taken residence in the girls.

William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” has been labeled one of if not the scariest movies of all time, according to sources like Rotten Tomatoes, Rolling Stone Magazine, and countless other outlets who run a top-rated lists. Usually in pensile at the top seed spot, “The Exorcist” has become a terrifying beloved and timeless horror classic amongst genre crossing fans who hide in horror behind a blanket as priests do battle in good versus evil while others may revel in and gawk at the profane possession of a young girl turned into a head-spinning, vomit spewing demon host. No matter which category fans find themselves in, there’s one singular, common impression, “The Exorcist” could never be dethroned as the scariest movie of all time, even if direct sequel “The Exorcist: Believer,” helmed by the latest “Halloween” trilogy director David Gordon Green, and marks the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, contemporarily challenges the 1973 demonic suspenser. The sequel would be doomed in an instant of it’s trailer, and know what? It was for the fans had immediately forsaken it, prejudging it without a second thought and a holy exorcism prayer. Fortunately, prejudging is not in my lexicon database until the credits role. “The Exorcist: Believer” is written and executive produced by David Gordon Green, cowritten by “Camp X-Ray” writer-director Peter Sattler, and executive produced Danny McBride (actor of “Pineapple Express” and producer of the latest “Halloween” trilogy), Atilla Salih Yücer, and “M3GAN” producer Mark David Katchur with James G. Robinson and Blum House’s Jason Blum producing.

Much like Linda Blair stepping into Regan’s white gown before becoming vilely sullied by a demon, “Believer” hosts two up-and-coming actresses fresh for being Hell’s marionettes in Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill. Jewett, with more acting chops experience having had roles in kid friendly and feel good stories of “Wonder” and “Nightbooks,” plays daughter Angela to “Murder on the Orient Express’s” Leslie Odom Jr.’s widowed father Victor, a photographer who had to make a difficult decision after a massive Earthquake on their babymoon trip to ancestral Haiti cost wife Sorenne (Tracey Graves, “Sebastian”) her life but not their child. The father-daughter combination becomes center story as a daughter trying to understand and know the woman who bore her despite living in reason to her death and a guilt-ridden father serving his existence by helicopter protection of his miracle child. Angela and Victor’s story becomes intertwined between the past and the upcoming events, shedding light on circumstance that hinges on the subtle cracks of their relationship. Meanwhile, the whole second possessed, Katherine, is essentially collateral damage. Played as her debut role, Olivia O’Neill awfully resembles Linda Blair, recreating a Regan anti-transfiguration that has two purposes into the tale – 1) being a second difficult choice for Victor Fielding and 2) a bridging support to connect to Friedkin’s film in it’s 50-year gap alongside the more prominent connection in Ellen Burstyn returning as Regan’s mother Chris MacNeil. MacNeil’s return gives “Believer” a boost in legitimacy and the potential to put die hard “The Exorcist” fans’ butts back into theatrical seats for the sequel, but the then now 91-year-old actress, who was likely in her late 80s or 90 at the time of principal photography, seemed relatively uninterested. Now whether that was age related weariness or not is undeterminable, I’m sure it was a factor, but there is no pop in the actress’s step as a mother who previously fought the devil for her daughter’s soul and won. “Believer” rounds the cast with some throwaway characters who come into the picture offering slim worth despite being pivotal to the story’s universal belief theme with performances from Danny McCarthy, Sugarland country singer Jennifer Nettles (“The Amityville Horror” ’05), Norbert Leo Butz (“New World Order”), E.J. Bonilla (“The House That Jack Built”), Okwui Okpokwasili (“Master”), Rapheal Sbarge (“There’s No Such Things as Vampires”), and “Handmaid Tale’s” Ann Dowd as the former nun-turned-nurse neighbor of the Fielding’s.

Much of “Believer’s” message is to separate the Catholicism answer in order to separate the sequel as a duplicate of the 1973 production where Catholic priests dig in deep to expel the demon from within. Writers nix the Catholics by making them not only unwilling participants, afraid of the damage that might incur from an exorcism, but also immediately removing the only willing Catholic to go against the Church in order to do the right thing. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Instead, “Believer” marks an era of new faith or, rather, new faiths with a sundry of religious convictions unifying to bring the girls back beyond Hell’s reach and dominion. Pastor of a Georgia Baptist church, excommunicated nun, Earth-centric religious beliefs, and skeptics formulate a bond to save loved ones, creating the perfect bedrock for taut tension with colliding beliefs and, yet there’s none of that disagreement as much of the dissent is turned toward from within the individual who challenges their own convictions in what they see, hear, and experience. For the most part, the farrago works against the grain of dichotomies who are usually at each other’s throats to one up their own beliefs, Gods, or what have you. The incongruous mix of faiths easily falls into rough-and-ready kumbaya in what assumed scared beyond the point of a reality-smacking wakeup call that announces the confirmation of Heaven and Hell. Netherworld hellion can very much be felt akin to Regan, though I believe Pazuzu’s possession of Regan was more violent and obscene in comparison to the diluted Lamashtu having been split into two bodies. Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill rocked the Christopher Nelson (“Fear Street” trilogy) makeup artistry to distinguish and differentiate themselves from each other but still stay in line with the Regan model and like the Pozuzu demon, we don’t get to see or experience much of Lamashtu other than phasing briefly into that plane of existence within the soul to see the winged, horned, and deformed body cast of the demon through the distorted, blurry sight of a viewing glass. While practical effects shine with the makeup, prosthetics, cable work, and so forth, praise for the entire body of work is containment by the use of poor, poxy visual effects in an attempt to be bigger than its much older predecessor.

For double the demon, you can get 4-times the sharper image with the new Collector’s Edition of “The Exorcist: Believer” on a Universal Studios 4K UltraHD, Blu-ray, and Digital Code set. The 2-disc set presents the feature in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The 4K UHD is stored on an HEVC encoded BD100 with a HD10/Dolby Vision resolution while the Blu-ray comes AVC encoded, BD50 stored with a 1080p resolution. There’s nothing really to fault with the presentation that sets crystalized moods and tones without a hint of compression complications on either format. Through the lens of Michael Simmonds, the tenebrous tone of the new Halloween trilogy, variegated briefly only by surround bursts of the environment elements, is transplanted to “Believer’s” as in equal in less light austerity. UHD pixels offers slightly contouring and detail but not much to make a tremendous different between image presentation, which both really do the job pulling every surface attribute from the possessed girls’ abraded faces and a mounting demon taking shape. Both formats contain an English Dolby Atmos and Digital Plus 7.1 surround with the Blu-ray also sporting a DVS 2.0 stereo mix. Again, not much to express negatively here with a multifaceted and versatile output that creates the tension but lacks the palpable finesses of the original film by adding more score to the production with a sample nod of Mike Oldfield’s iconic tubular bell theme integrated into a less iconic composition by Amman Abbasi and David Wingo. Sound design ushers in a nice ambience and spatial rhythm while also inducing a couple of sudden low-frequency jump scares. Dialogue is clean and clear with the appropriate intensities in due part. Other non-English options include Spanish and French on the UHD and Blu-ray. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are included and optional. Bonus features, in 1080 HD, includes Making a Believer a behind-scenes-look with cast and crew interviews and raw principal photography footage, Ellen and Linda: Reunited sits down briefly with director David Gordon Green, Ellen Burstyn, and Linda Blair on reuniting the actresses after many years for the first time in scene, Stages of Possession goes through the makeup process and the Lydia Jewett and Olivia O’Neill’s impressions on the possessed makeup and prosthetics, The Opening shot in the Dominican Republic to recreate Haiti where the story begins, Editing an Exorcism has editor Timothy Alverson (“Sinister 2”) speak toward editing the chaos and creating scares in a new “Exorcist” installment, Matters of Faith explores theologies via consulting experts to recreate accurate depiction of different beliefs, and feature-length parallel commentary with co-writer/director David Gordon Green, executive producer Ryan Turek, co-writer Peter Sattler, and special makeup FX designer Christopher Nelson. Stylistically, I really like this sleek multi-format package design of the two deeply possessed girls, sideways on a black and silver and monochrome kissed cover as you don’t get too lost in the coloring and focus on just what we’re all here to see, the demonic destruction, right on the rigid O-slipcover with embossed title in the middle. The 4K Amary case holds the same image arrangement back and front compared to the slipcover. Inside, each format resides on its own side of case real estate with the Blu-ray pressed with simplistic CD-like art while the UDH goes with the same front cover image. In the insert slip is a digital code for your downloading pleasure. With a near 2-hour runtime at one hour and 51-minutes, the release doesn’t list region playback, but I would suspect region one and is rated R for some violent content, disturbing images, language, and sexual references. With the exception of a few moderately eye-twitching jump scares, “The Exorcist: Believer” has been exorcised of the breath-holding terror that exalted William Friedkin’s film. However, what David Gordon Green produces is a different breed of religious cultivating inclusiveness inclined to be more so about the social commentary than being about the rite of excruciating deliverance.

Let the Power of 4K Compel You! “The Exorcist Believer” from Universal Home Video!

When Your Shame and Guilt Turn EVIL! “Prey for the Devil” reviewed! (Lionsgate / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on January 30, 2023

“Prey for the Devil” on Blu-ray home video. Purchase a Copy Today!

The rite of exorcism has been strictly performed only by Catholic priest; a decree enforced by the Church for more than a century. At the Saint Michael the Archangel School of Exorcism in Boston, Massachusetts, Ann, a young nurse caring for suspected possessed individuals, finds herself bound personally to a demon from her childhood. An opened-minded Father invites her to study exorcism as an observer only, but when Ann is able to connect to beyond the demon of a terminally possessed little girl, her theory on exorcisms goes against Church doctrine. Unable to officially help the little girl without agitating trouble, Ann performs back-alley exorcisms to prove her theories correct, bring her findings to the Church, prepare herself against a demon hungry for her soul, and save the life of a girl bound for transport to the Vatican where she will surely expire. Ann’s past and present collide in a battle between light and dark with a young girl’s life hanging in the balance.

Possession and exorcism movies have become rather formulaic in the last two decades with more than most being derivative as surpassing the bar on William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” has been an uphill battle, but, in my opinion, director Daniel Stamm has figured out a path to make the wavering subgenre emerge from the depths of the Netherworld and take possession with a different angle. “Prey for the Devil” is a terrifying tale by screenwriting partners and brothers Earl Richey Jones and Todd R. Jones, the first horror work from the “Rio” and “Johnson Family Vacation” writers, and the script, under the original working title of “The Devil’s Light, is designed by “Halloween H20” co-writer, Frank Zappia. The Hamburg, Germany-born Stamm returns to the demonically charged, demon possession genre having found moderate success with fans in his 2010 pseudo-doc/found footage film “The Last Exorcism.” More than a decade later, Stamm is still sending young girls up climbing up the corner of walls in his latest exorcism themed entry produced by the Jones brothers, Jeff Levine, Jessica Malanphy, and Paul Brooks under production companies Gold Circle Films (“Slither,” “Blood Creek”) and Lionsgate (“Saw” franchise).

“Prey for the Devil” has an embattled protagonist facing two opposing fronts – one fowl demon hellbent on devouring the Godsent Ann from the inside out and one the Church solely for being a woman wanting to practice what’s been appointed as a man’s vocation. Jacqueline Byers has been penned to play the curious and targeted nun and the “Bad Samaritan” actress doesn’t disappoint being the center of attention without overstepping conceitedly into Ann’s habit. The story never feels like it’s Ann, paralleling similar to the overall theme of looking past the surface level demon and understanding the person’s state of consciousness that might have invited the demon inside. Byers evokes more curiosity of a woman drawn to exorcism because of her own past involving an abusive mother (Koyna Ruseva) who, when listening to the voice inside her head, would hurt child Ann with a tough tugging, decorative comb. In Ann’s way is the Church represented by Sister Euphemia (Lisa Palfrey, “The Feast”), Father Quinn (Colin Salmon, “Resident Evil”), and Cardinal Matthews, played by the late Ben Cross (“Exorcist: The Beginning”) who would succumb to cancer after the completion of his role. With a trifecta of solid performances, the Church opposition lacks fortitude in coming down hard on Ann for not only taking a shining toward a priest’s appointed aptitude, but also for performing an unauthorized exorcism on a desperate priest’s sister. Her desperate priest friend, Father Dante (Christian Navarro, “13 Reasons Why“), is a sympathetic friend without much skin in the game of sticking his white collared neck out for Ann. “Prey for the Devil” introduces the teenage actress Posy Taylor with a chillingly consumed Natalie who has a strong semblance to Regan when demonized to the fullest and in a while gown. The film rounds out the cast with Nicholas Ralph, Keith Bartlett, and “Candyman’s” Virginia Madsen as the psychiatrist using science to disprove possession.

“Prety for the Devil” sets the stage strong by defining from the very opening credits that women were forbidden to perform the rite of exorcism. There’s even back support from Sister Euphemia giving her glares of disapproval and a library that limits the access to priest approved restricted texts, but Ann slides into the realm of exorcisms when little push back that begs the question why no other nun ever attempted to enroll in the demon extraction rituals course? Perhaps being set in the permissive Boston and not the draconian Vatican might have something to do with it, but the theme of inequality is ultimately suppressed and dispelled from the story, leaving Sister Ann to face a one-front battle against the unholy creatures of the underworld inhabiting those closest to her. For supernatural special effects, the computer visual imagery renders a meticulously blended and seamless compositional execution from a team under VF/X supervisor Laurent Spillemaecker (“Overlord,” “Martyrs’). The mesh of reality and virtual reality becomes indistinguishable to the point where good scares scenes come about as a result. There are plenty physical effects that are joint into a pivot from the visuals and the motions don’t have an ounce of clunkiness to them. While we touched upon the theme of inequality of women in the Church, “Prey for the Devil’s” other theme revolves around a fairly common one in films today – guilt or shame. The new angle the story provides ceases to look at possession not from a demon focused level but to reach in and try to convince the person within that they’re at fault for whatever it is they grieve in shame for and to tell them whatever the case may be, no fault is put on them. Novel enough to be interesting, guilt and shame will forever be vilified and demonized, literally, in most horror. For “Prey for the Devil,” the element of anguish proves to be more powerful than most who utilize it, capitalizing in on the power of being overcome by it, and turning it into a nasty, soul-swallowing distemper one may not come back from. This is why Virginia Madsen’s psychiatrist character exists, to provide that presence of psychosis and other mental disabilities that sometimes appear to be demonic in nature to the naked, untrained eye. The story does well to create an alternate universe around this idea by having the Church admit patients with undiagnosed disorders as they could be more than what meets the eye.

Not quite the nunsploitation one might be hoping for, but “Prey for the Devil” envisages self-conscious emotions as a wide-open door for pain, suffering, and unmitigated self-punishment. Lionsgate Home Entertainment presents “Prety for the Devil” on a high definition, 1080p, AVC encoded Blu-ray, DVD, and digital code release with a widescreen 2.39:1 aspect ratio. With tight quarters of Saint Michaels, a fictional location setup from Sofia University in Palo Alto, California, the anamorphic lens compacts hallways and auditoriums cylindrically, offering more space than actuality, but the format doesn’t necessarily fit this type of a film that offers no vast landscape or much depth or long shots. Not much else to say negatively about the digital image that offers a darker, low contrasted tone. The audio track has three audio options: an English Dolby Atmos, a Spanish 5.1 Dolby Audio, and a French 5.1 Dolby Audio. For the English Atmos, the format fully immerses the viewer into a complete surround sound experience with each crescendo jump scares as well as in the middle of a good versus evil quarrel. Crisp and spatial, Atmos on the release takes advantage of the infrasound to build tension where it might be lost in other audio formats and also italicizes the ambient composition into the Nathan Barr’s (“From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter”) classical and haunting lullaby scores. The special features include an audio commentary with director Daniel Stamm and principal lead actress Jacqueline Byers, a 41-minute featurette with in-depth and retrospective interviews with cast and crew Possessed: Creating Prey for the Devil, Nathan Barr’s discussion on creating the score for the film A Lullaby of Terror, exposing the film’s visuals effects The Devil’s Tricks, a feature-length, nearly 2-hour roundtable read of the original first screenplay draft from the cast, and an Exorcist and Psychologist discussion about the possession with screenwriter Robert Zappia mediating (or maybe even moderating) the comments. The physical release comes in a traditional Blu-ray snapper case with artwork cover pictured with one of film’s rememberable scenes. Inside is the digital code slip and outside the snapper is sheathed in a cardboard slipcover with the identical cover art. Possession-exorcism films are just as tired as the zombie subgenre, but “Prey for the Devil” possesses symbolic and doleful undertones inside a superbly acted and an intriguing alternate universe story that’s not too far from the truth in one of the Church’s more confrontational, as well as controversial, methods to battle evil.

“Prey for the Devil” on Blu-ray home video. Purchase a Copy Today!

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Don’t Mind the Glowing, Ominous Hole in the Wall. That’s Just a Gateway to Evil. “Beyond Darkness” reviewed! (Severin / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on November 30, 2021

A witch acolyte of Ameth, an underworld demon, is executed on multiple counts of child murder. The priest who oversaw the witch’s last rites came in with a doubtful heart and upon researching Ameth through an unholy book, disavowed his own religion only to fall into a near drunken stupor of atheism. Months later, a new priest and his family move into a home arranged by the archdiocese, but soon after settling into the old house, a series of disturbances point to a closed in wall behind a door that’s uncovered to be a gateway to another plane of existence; an existence where the child killing witch is granted access to seek the souls of the priest’s young children. Fighting with his own struggles of faith, the ex-Jesuit assists the priest and his family in an attempt to cast out evil once and for all.

Perhaps common knowledge amongst diehard horror fans, but not so much among the casual curiosities of an oblique coursed moviegoer is the fact that “Beyond Darkness” and Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead” share a cinematic series connection. Well, not one in any official capacity one at least. Drained from the same bloody vain that unofficially corrals Lucio Fulci’s “Zombi 2” as a sequel to George Romero’s “Day of the Dead,” retitled in Italy as “Zombi,” the American-made, Italian-orchestrated “Beyond Darkness” too fell upon the slew of Italian title changes sword with a rechristening into the “La Casa” series. With the success of “The Evil Dead” in the U.S., Raimi’s video nasty was renamed to “La Case” and “Beyond Darkness” became the fifth “sequel” in the series as “La Casa 5.” Since Italy has no copywrite laws, a light breeze can easily change any filmic title. Even the director, Clyde Anderson, dons a false pretense as the Americanized alter ego of Italian director Claudio Fragasso. The “Scalps” and “Troll 2” Fragasso pens “Beyond Darkness” with longtime script confederate Rossella Drudi, under the Sarah Asproon pseudonym. “Beyond Darkness” is shot in the deep American South of Louisiana under the Joe D’Amato (aka Aristide Massaccesi) founded Filmirage (“Anthropophagus: The Grim Reaper,” “Deep Blood”), produced by D’Amato, as the Filmirage Production Group.

While behind the camera is mostly an Italian production team, in front of the camera is a cast of American and English actors with an opening Louisiana penitentiary pre-execution theology debate between Bette the witch, played by Mary Coulson, and Father George, a priest having a crisis of faith, played by one of D’Amato’s regulars in English actor David Brandon (“StageFright,” “The Emperor Caligula: The Untold Story”). Coulson’s role may be punitively small as the “Beyond Darkness’” lead witch and predominant face of the core evil, but the actress puts all into the Bette character comprised of a maniacal laugh and a lots of very European skin-tag makeup effects whereas the classically trained David Brandon has an array of lively emotions and facial expressions sized to fit Father George’s clerical shirt and white tab collar when he’s not sloshed with doubt. Both characters interweave into the life of a new-to-the-area priest, his wife, and two kids who move into an old house, built on unholy ground, to start his new chapter in priesthood. Days later, as the kids become instantly okay with a giant black swam rocking horse in the middle of their bedroom, the family is terrorized by flying kitchenware, flooded with a bayou mist, and frightened by figures in black, tattered shrouds seeking to steal their children’s souls. Christopher Reeve’s lookalike Gene LeBrock (“Night of the Beast”) fails at double father duty in his poorly lit excuse of a worried father with his children being lured to the realm of the spirit side and as a grounded in faith Father combating the forces of evil without a solid sense of what to do. Both parents are equally written off as incompetents who continue to stay in the house despite on the continuous threat of Baba Yaga wannabes knocking at every door in the house. As the mother, Barbara Bingham felt as if she had a little more skin the game. Perhaps having just come off the legacy success of a “Friday the 13^th” sequel (“Jason Takes Manhatten”) she felt the responsibility of maintaining a more diligent approach toward being a mother coursing through occult’s dire straits. Michael Paul Stephenson (“Trolls 2) and Theresa Walker excel much better in their roles as the two kids, Martin and Carole, who’ve become the centerpiece of Bette’s maliceful desires.

“Beyond Darkness” will come across as very familiar amongst both horror fans and fans of movies in general with a story pulling inspiration from films like William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” and Tobe Hooper’s “Poltergeist.” Fragasso picks and chooses a blanket of trope elements to rework with great malleably in order to not be a total copy. However, for those who know anything about low-budget Italian horror, Fragasso’s rousing similarities to major and independent hits should come as no surprise. Notoriously renowned schlock horror directors Joe D’Amato and Bruno Mattei, amongst a sea of others, use to fabricate out of fame at every opportunity by gobbling up successful films, chewing them up, and spitting out their Italian produced counterparts without a second thought just to cash in on just a fraction of the original narrative’s success. The way I see it, the method was (and still is) an honorable form of flattery. Yet, flattery doesn’t cure sloppiness and “Beyond Darkness” is about as sloppy as sloppy joes. Plot hole after plot hole stack up on Fragasso’s inability to amalgamate elements in an entirely coherent way. There are underwhelming revelations to anticipating character build ups that fizzle; such as a thick-tension mystery behind the local archdiocese and their involvement to place a good Christian family in a house built on evil land or what precisely convinced Father George of Ameth’s power to sink him into an alcoholic pit of despair? I already mentioned Martin and Carole’s inept parents on not fleeing the house at first sign of poltergeist activity or any activity since then so don’t get me started. The story needs some fine tuning but not after is amiss. The acting is not entirely a humdrum of monotony, Carlo M. Cordio’s eclectic synthesizer riff and haunting keynotes score is on another level akin to a composition pulled right out of a survival horror video game, and Larry J. Fraser, another one of Joe D’Amato’s pseudonyms, has an honesty about his scenes unlike we’ve ever seen before in a D’Amato production as the cinematographer captures the fog luminously and effervescently surrounding and chasing the family from out to in.

“Beyond Darkness” is no “The Evil Dead” but is a solid demon and ghost dog and pony show from 1990. Now, the Claudio Fragasso (or is it, Clyde Anderson?) classic is heading straight to your level room television set with a new 2-disc Blu-ray. The hardcoded Region A is presented in widescreen 1.66:1 aspect ratio in a full high definition and 1080p resolution. With only a possible color touch up here or there, I would venture to say the transfer used is the most pristine copy with hardly any damage or any age deterioration. The grain looks amply checked and no cropping or edge enhancing at work in an attempt to correct any issues, if any ever existed. Severin offers two audio options: an English language DTS-HD master audio 2.0 and an Italian dub of the same spec. With dual channels, there retains an always room for growth inkling and with the film’s broad range in sounds, a difficult to swallow lossy audio pill plays the aftertaste tune of, man, this could have been way better. Yet, the track is solid enough, if not more so, with virtually zilch damage. Dialogue comes across clean and clear, but there tails some minor hissing. Like with many Severin releases, new interviews are the star of the special feature show with one-side, talking head interviews with writer-director Claudio Fragrasso Beyond Possession, co-writer Rossella Drudi The Devil in Mrs. Drudi, and actor David Brandon Sign of the Cross. Though the theatrical trailer rounds out the first disc special features, Severin also includes Carlo M. Cordio’s superb soundtrack as disc number two along with a two-page booklet with an introduction to the ingredients of a horror score and to Cordio himself as well as a listing of all 17 tracks. “Beyond Darkness” is Claudio Fragrasso’s unbridled mutt, a motley of motion picture royalties rolled up into an adulating and piggybacking horror beyond comparison.

“Beyond Darkness” 2-disc Special Edition Blu-ray Available on Amazon

Evil Not So Easily Vanquished in “The Song of Solomon” review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on September 6, 2018

After bearing witness the brutal suicide of her father, Mary undergoes family counselling as a result of being the cause of her father’s death with repetitive public accusations of molestation. The ill-equipped counselor suggests medical evaluation from a professional who beseeches the assistance of The Catholic Church when the determination concludes that Mary is suffering from severe Satanic possession. Directives from high positions in the Church service in waves three priests to perform the delicate exorcism; all of whom have conducted an exorcism under difficult and soul-exhausting situations. The irresolute and embattled priests field the call, blindly walking into Mary’s slithery persuasive possession state of soul-tormenting and death. The priests will tirelessly seek to have the beleaguered Mary exorcised of the nasty demon from within and have her tattered body come back to Jesus…or perhaps be personally delivered to the Devil.

Finally! American Guinea Pig: “The Song of Solomon” has been on my highly anticipated review material list for a very, very long time. Written, produced, and helmed by the founder and president of Unearthed Films himself, Stephen Biro has been more than widely known for years to promote and glorify gore in the shock-provoking films underneath his banner; a practice that has made his company a stable in the realm of horror aficionados. “The Song of Solomon” keeps the blood flowing….splattering, squirting, spurting, spilling, in fact! Whereas many of the Unearthed Films productions and distributions have a granular or avant garde stories, Biro, despite the confined and limited locations, pens an engrossing narrative with evocative, haunting, and surreal characters surged into a powerful and ageless tale that sordidly spanks “The Exorcist” like an irrefutably forgotten and spoiled rotten step-child. “The Song of Solomon” is that good and soars to the top in being one of this reviewer’s favorite Unearthed Films’ titles.

Jessica Cameron should just be handed a ton of awards for her performance as the possessed Mary. Cameron’s creative creepiness is unsurpassable and just oozes out of the character, zapping an icy chill down each disk of the spine whenever she uses the playful sing-songy voice of a snake’s fork tongue. As a whole, Cameron singlehandedly comes off overwhelming haunting and delivers a personality made up of nightmare material; a phenomenal performance that rivals, if not outright tops, Linda Blair’s Regan. There are moments when you think the 2003 “Truth or Dare” director and actress had post-production enhanced vocals to make Mary persuasive, enticing, and demonic, but only a slight vocal overlay on top is the only thin icing on the already devilish cake. It’s not as if Cameron didn’t have any competition on screen, either. Scott Gabbey, David E. McMahon (“Followers”), Angelcorpse’s Gene Palubicki (“American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock”), and Jim Van Bebber (“The Manson Family”) compliment the versus’ righteous, if not also flawed, challenger with immense passion for their respective roles of grief-stricken priests, plucked carefully by top Church officials to handle the exorcism. Maureen Pelamati, Josh Townsend, and Scott Alan Warner (“3-Headed Shark Attack”) co-star.

Production value must reign above the conventional indie fare and special effects owns much of that real estate. The man behind the special effects on such films as “Mohawk” and “Lung II,” Marcus Koch, has teamed up with “Bereavement” and “Murder-Set-Pieces'” Jerami Cruise to assemble some of best, yet refreshingly basic, gore effects seen recently. Regurgitation of internal organs, the compound splintering of bones, and even a Columbian necktie are the prime examples of what to expect from the unlimited imagination of the Koch and Cruise collaboration. Locations are simple and tight, leaving not much room for exploration of options for practical effects, but each scene is well thought out, choreographed, and designed for gruesome upshot that keeps true to Unearthed Films brand of filmmaking. Toss all that into a sack along with fellow colleague Gene Palubicki’s malevolently cacophony soundtrack and the outcome is a well-rounded horror film with extreme unapologetic values worth the time of day and night.

“The Song of Solomon,” an Unearthed Films production, lands onto Blu-ray distributed courtesy of MVD Visual. The 86 minute runtime film is presented in a High Definition 1080p widescreen format, 1.90:1 aspect ratio, on a single layer BD-50 disc. If you want gore, you got it with this particularly warm hued transfer really puts the devil in the details with grisly effects that could be hard to stomach. The English LCPM Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track caters with nice fidelity. Dialogue is clearly present amongst the Palubicki score and the ghastly ambience augments the visual viscosity of the gore. Bonus features include an audio commentary with Stephen Biro and Jessica Camera, another commentary with Biro and effects gurus Marcus Koch and Jerami Cruise, interviews with Jessica Cameron, Stephen Biro, Marcus Koch, Gene Palubiki, David McMahon, and director of photography Chris Helleke, a behind the scenes look, outtakes, and a photo gallery. Comparing Stephen Biro’s “The Song of Solomon” to William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” is like comparing apples to oranges as both films relish and thrive in their own atmospheres. However, “The Song of Solomon” stands firm as a powerful competitor that offers up a ravishingly foul and metaphysical entry into the genre realm of demonic possessions casted with raw talent.

Exorcising Evil Takes a Toll. “Accidental Exorcist” review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on June 4, 2016

Unorthodox exorcist and hobby writer Richard Vanuk lives a depressing and humble life full of endless booze and filthy altruism. Driven by the need for alcohol and an underline desire to help possessed strangers for a small fee, Vanuk barely maintains his own sustainability. With each challenging case of demonic inhabitance, the poor full time exorcist, and part time writer, expels demons from their misfortunate hosts into his own wretched soul, draining his self-respecting humanity out of him one demon-expulsion job at a time. The deeper Vanuk spirals downward into nihilism and the deeper he goes into severe debt, the choice to withdrawal from the toll of exorcising demons becomes no longer an option, but a fruitlessly fateful venture to just surviving in a world that’s scarce of good people.

My second undertaking into a Daniel Falicki horror film has the “Awaken The Devil” director batting a solid hundred percent on the ever honest critique block, going a strong two-for-two with his latest film, 2016’s “Accidental Exorcist,” that’s drenched with a despair atmosphere that swallows the intentionally pathetic character who is granted only a glimmer of unattainable hope for a good life. The writer-director has a keen eye for developing horror in various comedic, dramatic, and absurdly berserk formatted segments, delicately defining details to capture memorable moments. Falicki also stars as his own character, Richard Vanuk, and Falicki charms the audience by creating a likable anti-protagonist whose cavalier about demonic possessions and begrudged by a “corporate” employer who pays very little for the precision of demon banishment; this same company performs a stigmata on him after every exhausting job, discarding his limp, unconscious body in a different snow covered park afterwards.

Falicki drowns Vanuk in vices and addictions. Aside from the obvious alcohol and constant inebriation, Vanuk needs the pain of performing exorcisms as much as he loathes the process and the people who employs him. The character can’t reform, can’t function properly in normality, as witnessed when his successful brother offers Richard a once-in-a-lifetime position at his mundane company of pigmentation for sports equipment. When the exorcism well runs dry, Vanuk goes into full blown, borderline psychotic detox as he’s cut off from his, one and only, natural born skill and the ceasing of his per diem position sends him into frantically gulping down bottles of cold medicine to get a soothing fix. Falicki punishes the audience beloved, unconventional exorcist by having Vanuk fall to the bottom by not being unlucky or plotted against, but by simply self destruction and having God turn his back on his loyal servant when the promise, or a test, of a favorable outlook reveals itself.

The casting couldn’t be much more perfect with a cast of talented b-movie stars such as Jason Roth (“Awaken The Devil”), Chris Kotcher, and Jeffrey Goodrich to quickly name a few. Falicki owns Richard Vanuk, embodying the character so brilliantly that I would have a hard time relinquishing Richard Vanuk from Daniel Falicki’s face. Falicki pulls out all the stops by putting every once of degradation the director can muster into the downtrodden exorcist with a performance that sells his hapless nature and spew-filled gigs. Every client Vanuk attends to is portrayed honestly and earnestly from Sherryl Despress’s role of a desperate mother turned possessed super sewer to Patrick Hendren’s blind and levitating demonic being who goes on to have a heart-to-heart with Vanuk after an exorcism recovery.

“Accidental Exorcist” is unapologetic and shameless; a real nasty bitch to love unconditionally. The fun soars above the summit and the ingrained heart bursts beyond the restrictive seams of the reel. The film is nothing I’ve ever scene before; yet, still manages to homage legendary films that “Accidental Exorcist” built it’s bones upon. Similarities to, of course, the iconic William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” are apparent throughout with the almost beautifully grim and isolated atmospheric exterior scenes of foreboding destiny. Falicki’s film contains special effects so convincing by leaps and bounds when compared to other modern independent horror, portraying Vanuk so well within the confines of his dank and dejected existence that it’s as if he’s sharing his grime and his loneliness with us that’ll result with a quick shower when the credits roll.

Sector 5 Films and Rotomation Studios courtesy produces “Accidental Exorcist,” that’s not related to the Joshua Graham novel, but the audio and video will not be critically reviewed since I received and viewed a press screener and the film has yet to be released onto a home entertainment platform. However, make no mistake that “Accidental Exorcist” strides cockily into the first half of 2016 horror season, flying unnoticed, under the radar, as sleeper agent dangerous to demonic possession film competitors. Director Daniel Falicki is on the up and coming watch list like a high target terrorist, striking the heart of modern day horror and putting fear, and comedy, into a cynical cauldron.