A genre of horror more often ignored until recently is the folklore horror genre. These films use folklore as a mean of escalating the horror that is the center piece of the film. Perhaps the most well-known of these films is THE WICKER MAN. There are many more out there though and recently Severin Films released a box set that included a documentary on the subject. New to the genre though is THE LONG NIGHT from Well Go.
Scout Taylor-Compton stars as Grace Covington, a young woman with no clue about her past. Given up for adoption after being born she now lives in NYC with her successful boyfriend Jack Cabot (Nolan Gerard Funk). Grace has hired Frank Caldwell (King Orba) when she finds out where she was born to dig into her past. He’s contacted her and she and Jack are on their way to meet with him in the small southern town she was born in.
Upon arrival things begin to feel off. To begin with Caldwell is not at the house he told her to go to. Having told her where the key is she and Jack go into the house with their luggage to wait for him. Scouring the house they find no clues as to her past or Caldwell.
As night falls even stranger things begin to happen. The biggest of these is a group of robed cult members standing outside with torches blocking an exit from the property. Disturbed by this Jack threatens to call the police on them but they are unfazed. When they discover the phone isn’t working their fears increase.
Into the house comes Wayne Caldwell (Jeff Fahey), Frank’s brother. With no clue who Grace and Jack are he tells them to get off of his property. They explain what’s going on and point out to Wayne the group outside who apparently stepped aside when he arrived. He tells them to get off his property and when he attempts to force them to do so, the leader of the cult uses supernatural powers to break his body and kill him.
A phone call from the leader to Jack informs him that they only want the girl. If he will turn her over they will allow him to live. As he contemplates whether to give them to her or not, Grace begins having dreams of her past and the cult. What is it they want her for? And will Jack give her up?
Visually the movie has a ton of style going on here. The cult members in robes wearing animal skulls for masks are truly a cringe inducing group. The secluded location offers plenty of opportunities to escalate the fear factor. The problem is these items are the best things about the film.
While the acting is well done the movie feels like there wasn’t enough story here to make an entire feature film. The pacing drags along at a snail’s pace and little happens with the cult members other than their standing and looking intimidating. Images of these cult members just standing outside fill the film and while disturbing aren’t enough to make the film frightening or to flush out a tale. If you’ve ever seen a horror movie then it takes seconds to figure out the backstory of Grace and why she is here, even if it isn’t clearly defined in the script.
In the end the movie isn’t one I’d recommend to most. Horror
fans looking for something new might enjoy it. Sadly most others will find it
tedious and boring. To be brutally honest I dozed off and had to restart the
movie 3 times.
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