I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about the return of the king in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” the dark comedy “How to Make a Killing,” the heist film “Crime 1201” and the inspirational “I Can Only Imagine 2.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the return of the king in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” the heist film “Crime 101,” the dark comedy “How to Make a Killing” and the horror movie “Diabolic.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to sing “Hm, ooh, yeah-yeah, yeah” Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the return of the king in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” the dark comedy “How to Make a Killing” and the horror movie “Diabolic.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Diabolic,” a new horror film now on VOD, a young woman, raised on a fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints compound, must confront the trauma of her youth.
CAST: Elizabeth Cullen, John Harlan, Kim Mia Challis, Genevieve Mooy, Robin Goldsworthy. Directed by Daniel J. Phillips.
REVIEW: An unsettling take on religious horror, “Diabolic” puts a new spin on a typical tale of possession.
When we first meet Elise (Elizabeth Cullen) she is a young woman undergoing a “baptism for the dead” ritual in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As she is repeatedly dunked into a pool of water an elder says, Larue (Seraphine Harley), the name of an evil spirit.
Cut to ten years and one excommunication later, Elise’s baptism trauma manifests itself in blackouts, nightmares and self-harm. Determined to put an end to her suffering, she revisits the remote FLDS compound of her youth. Alongside her boyfriend Adam (John Kim) and BFF Gwen (Mia Challis), she undergoes an “exposure therapy” ceremony aided by hallucinogens offered by local healers.
Elise’s miracle cure brings with it an unexpected side-effect. When the long dormant spirit of the cursed witch Larue is unleashed, troubling, buried memories reveal themselves.
The addition of fundamentalism into “Diabolic’s” slow-burn mix of religion and the supernatural provides a fresh take on the possession genre but uneven pacing strips away some of the movie’s punch.
Australian director Daniel J. Phillips effectively blurs the line between real life religious practices and the supernatural to effectively create an off-kilter vibe that feels somehow unnervingly rooted in reality. It makes for some disturbing scenes which escalate until the climatic payoff of the last fifteen minutes or so.
Until then, however, except for some brief scary moments, it’s a basic story where the characters fall prey to the usual horror movie cliches while adding in unnecessary relationship complications between the lead trio.
“Diabolic” has several scares and some interesting ideas, but doesn’t quite know what to do with them.
