Possession
The Assent
The possession horror sub-genre has become a formula. A normal family suddenly starts experiencing disturbing behaviour (usually from a child) that can only be described as otherworldly, cueing a priest or a similar follower of the good word to go through with an exorcism. It’s the job of the production to rise above this predictability to offer audiences individual strengths (creepy imagery and atmospheric scares, sometimes a scene-stealing performance like Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s in The…
Toronto After Dark 2019: ‘8’, ‘The Assent’ and ‘The Mortuary Collection’
8 (DIR. Harold Holscher) Horror can be found just about anywhere, however not all horror is equal. This is why films that incorporate real-life horrors must be particularly aware of how they incorporate the various elements. Former TAD presentation Under the Shadow is a great example of how to do this correctly. But, this is why Harold Holscher’s 8 is so conflicting. It doesn’t really have much to say about its source events, creating a final product…
The Quiet Ones
By: Addison Wylie By this point, you pay to see The Quiet Ones and sort of know it’s going to be the fifty-seventh by-the-numbers possession film you’ve seen within the past decade. You get a vibe that the film is riding off the success of other, more successful horror films and a lot of the scares will be abiding by the rules of “gotcha” spooks. The Quiet Ones reminded me of movies like The Conjuring…