Dir - Adam Randall
Overall: MEH
Proving that mere expectation subverting is not inherently a good thing, I See You manages a genuine rug pull half-way through as well as a random twist in the finale, yet both of these leave an unsatisfying aftertaste. As the screenwriting debut for actor Devon Graye, the bold choices he makes certainly achieve their initial gasps from the audience and the structural shift which allows for the entire narrative to replay from the perspective of different characters gets by only to a point on its cleverness. The fact that both these new characters and the initially established ones lean heavy on the unlikable side is part of the problem and the final result oozes cynicism where nobody is without moderate to significant flaws. Director Adam Randall keeps the humor to the barest possible minimum and though it is probably more of the script's fault than not, but the performances seem stiff , especially in Helen Hunt and Jon Tenney's case. That said, it is refreshing to see a Hollywood couple that were actually born within two years of each other instead of the usual elder gentleman with a wrinkle-free wife that is half his age. For those who like their thrillers perpetually dark and will gladly partake of home invasion chills, (as well as also still finding creepy masks to be, well, creepy), this should be most agreeable though.
Dir - Chad Crawford Kinkle
Overall: MEH
Writer/director Chad Crawford Kinkle's follow-up to his independent debut Jug Face is the even smaller scale Dementer, which once again reunites him with Larry Fessenden, be it in a minor, infrequent role. Featuring Kinkle's actual sister Stephanie who has Down Syndrome, the story has a unique premise for a genre film involving a benevolent, ex-cult member who takes a new job as a caregiver for special needs adults while suffering psychologically combative trauma from her occult-fueled past. Though the presentation is wholly respectful towards the real life, disabled cast members and Katie Groshong turns in a naturalistic performance in the lead, the actual narrative is meandering and frustrating. Nearly the entire movie simply bounces between Groshong trying to go about her business while disjointed flashback sequences aggressively not only interrupt her day, but also the flow of the movie. Said sequences are nothing more than Fessenden repeating goofy things and counting a lot, disturbing, out of focus images being edited in rapid-fire succession, and non-melodic, ominous music incessantly overlapping everything. None of the occult tomfoolery is explained which is not a problem in and of itself, but it leads to a confused, anticlimactic finale that fails to crescendo the intended, malevolent tone.
Dir - Keith Thomas
Overall: MEH
A combination of genre familiarity and potent, Semitic traditionalism, filmmaker Keith Thomas' full-length debut The Vigil is occasionally impactful in its intense mood-setting and guilt-consuming metaphors. Set almost entirely in a two-story, Brooklyn home and focusing on a highly troubled, down on his luck, former Orthodox community member who is reluctantly tasked with keeping vigil over a deceased Holocaust survivor with an equally traumatic past, it uses the Jewish, mythological Mazzik demon as a tool to feed off of the internal suffering of others, who it then maliciously attaches itself to. While there are a couple of light touches of humor stemming from Dave Davis' awkwardness with women and newfound adjustment troubles to contemporary, civilian life, Thomas predominantly upholds a thick, brooding, and ultra-creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately, the scare tactics that he utilizes do eventually become predictable and even occasionally grating with jump scares and lots of loud, ambient screechy noises on the soundtrack. Still, Davis is fantastically vulnerable in the lead and at least the first act is very gripping as it teases the inevitable supernatural shenanigans in a "can't look away" manner. It steers clear of having an insultingly simplistic, emotional backbone and the Jewish folklore subject matter is refreshing in and of itself, but it slightly misses the mark to break as much new ground as it deserves to.
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