Fantasia 2019, Movie Reviews
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[FANTASIA 2019] ‘SATOR,’ ‘THE PREY’ and ‘DOOR LOCK’ Mini-Reviews

SATOR

To say that everything in Sator is made with love and care is an understatement. Hell, even all the credits are handwritten. This is the consummation of six years of work for writer/director/editor/everything Jordan Graham. The movie concerns an entity that in reality haunted generations of Graham’s family, the titular Sator. Graham’s grandmother (who appears in the film via real taped testimonials) and that line of matriarchs before her were all psychologically disturbed, and despite all efforts of treatment maintained that the presence existed. Graham’s Grandmother maintained this presence, even beyond her battle with dementia; by the end she, her memories and persona, was gone…but the memories of Sator remained to her last days. It’s really creepy stuff and made all the more real by the actual woman appearing in the film. Graham’s vision for the fictional version of this story follows Adam (Gabriel Nicholson) who is investigating the mysterious death of his Grandfather, and the nefarious Sator who has haunted his family’s bloodline. He lives isolated in the woods, paranoid of his surroundings and with a level of surveillance that is to an extreme. He is afraid of something, and his family has pushed him away, or he’s pushed himself from them. The deeper he digs, the more he discovers the depths and influences that this demon has had on the lives of his family for generations.

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This movie is a visual wonder to behold, with some shots hauntingly beautiful and absolutely grand scenery everywhere. It’s the kind of movie where every frame can be framed and placed on a wall. The use of natural light and shadow in every shot shows the love of the craft in a way that can only be achieved by someone who has a firm grasp and passion for. Dialogue is sparse and quiet, the visuals and non-verbal acting from Nicholson carrying the emotion and furthering of the story. Not all of the pacing was what I was hoping for, and the movie never quite gets to the level of madness I hoped for either. But this isn’t something I could change, nor really could Graham. You could even say that he was driven by Sator to make the movie, if you wanted to believe. This is one of the most personal horror films I’ve ever seen, and for that it’s a brilliant achievement. I hope Graham takes less time on the equally personal follow-up he’s tackling next, using his Grandmother’s journals and experiences in 1968 as a guide.

No word yet on where you can catch Sator outside of Fantasia 2019, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Graham releases it on VOD himself. Keep a look out, and see it in a theater if you can.

4 OUT OF 5 STARS

THE PREY (2018)

Human-hunting-human stories have been a fascination to me since I read Richard Connell’s 1924 short story The Most Dangerous Game at a young age. Countless movies have taken the framework and made it their own, to varying degrees of success.  Every so often, the idea that man is the ultimate sport-hunt gets another go. Hell, it’s the basis for two one movie coming out this month alone — Ready Or Not and The Hunt. So here’s The Prey, a Cambodian attempt at the story from Jimmy Henderson (director of last year’s Fantasia entry Jailbreak) involving an undercover cop being in prison, roped into being hunted for sport, and in the fight of his life to survive. How does it hold up compared to the rest?
Poorly, is the answer to that question! Aside from a few hand-to-hand sequences that kinda work, I’ve not seen a more lifeless and boring action film that has all the makings of being exciting. Terribly shot action, poor acting, paper-thin characters. This is essentially a remake of Brian Trenchard-Smith’s 1982 exploitation classic Turkey Shoot, minus the charm and the grit and the talent and the bonkers that movie harbors. Avoid it, check out Ready or Not and The Hunt this month instead.
In addition to playing at Fantasia 2019 from Raven Banner, The Prey has been picked up for distribution this October from Dark Force Entertainment!

1.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

DOOR LOCK

A young bank employee returns home to discover what appears to be an attempt to open her door, and later she’s watching her door handle jiggle in the middle of the night. She doesn’t feel safe in her apartment, and she shouldn’t…someone is in her place, hiding under the bed until she’s sound asleep, and then smothering her with a doused cloth to keep her sleeping. He showers, cleans the drain, and crawls into bed with her, spooning until the morning. She is completely unaware. Meanwhile, shortly after a conversation with a patron at work turns from a flirty attempt at an upsale into an overly aggressive backfire, a murder occurs. Guess who’s the prime suspect here? Could he be the one stalking her and attempting to enter her home? Could he be the one sleeping under the bed? Are they even one in the same? Can you possibly find a reason to care?

Though director Kwon Lee’s Door Lock is based on the terrific 2011 Spanish film Sleep Tight, directed by Jaume Balaguero ([rec]), the similarities end at the general concept of someone being preyed upon and a shared scene or two. This is, by and large, a traditional mystery-thriller about a woman being stalked, and nothing more. We don’t follow the perpetrator, who we know from frame one of Sleep Tight and learn everything about. Instead we just follow the victim, thus taking the entirety of what makes Sleep Tight so unique and fascinating and suspenseful. This variation is just shy of being a mid-80’s thriller without the sex, or a Lifetime movie. If it weren’t for the semi-stylish moments of good suspense that those tend to avoid, this would be a complete waste. The tension is occasionally here, but without anyone to care about it’s hard to muster any enthusiasm. Lifeless characters don’t offer much of any interest, and the acting doesn’t elevate the material. I simply do not understand why you would remake a good concept and actually take away the perspective that made it good in the first place. Mostly dreadful, skip it and check out Sleep Tight instead.

Aside from playing at Fantasia 2019 there’s no word yet on a North American release of Door Lock.

1.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

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Spielberg, Hill, Verhoven, Cronenberg, Landis, Carpenter, Lucas, Friedkin, and many others built my taste in youth. Then filmmakers from Italy, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Spain crept in. Now I'm an unstoppable film fiend, and living and breathing ALL the visual mediums you can find. I'll take any excuse to talk movies or TV, so writing and podcasting are my outlets!

Comments

  • Assistir Série Supernatural Online

    June 22, 2020

    But a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great style.

    Reply

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