Last Shift (2015) – movie review

Last Shift (2015)

written and directed by Anthony DiBlasi

starring:
Juliana Harkavy
Joshua Mikel
J. LaRose

 

This starts as a slow burning creeper. It takes a good half hour to catch fire but it does and it is worth the wait. A young rookie cop, Jessica, is assigned to guard an old police station on its final night of operation. The station has a new location on the other side of town. She has to remain at the old one until a hazmat unit picks up some evidence to discard. She is supposed to be alone. Clearly she is not.

The place is haunted by one terrible event. It’s haunted by the perpetrators of a violent evil deed. It’s haunted by the victims of that same deed and the young rookie cop’s personal connection to this event is cause for disturbance. She is tormented by the dead by vile means and is driven to the edge of sanity by crazy visions, psychological attacks and disturbing mind games. She is also tormented by the living connected to the event.

Juliana Harkavy plays a convincing part as the rookie cop struggling to keep her father’s honor and not abandoning her post, while being assaulted by the cult-ish freaks that haunt the halls of the station. The ending leaves a little to be desired but the journey was worth a watch. Currently available on Netflix streaming.

This is a fun horror flick combining both psychological and visceral terror with a super creepy climax.

I give it 3.9 horrifying haunted hails out of 5 on the crazy cult concubine from hell scale.

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parlor of horror – movie review

The Veil (2016) – Movie Review

The Veil (2016)

directed by Phil Joanou
written by Robert Ben Garant

starring: Jessica Alba, Lily Rabe, Aleksa Palladino, Reid Scott, Thomas Jane

I found this film interesting and upon keeping my interest it escalated the suspense into a creepy paranormal thriller. Twenty-Five years ago, a cult called Heavens Veil committed a mass suicide under the direction of its leader, Jim Jacobs. Now, all these years later, a documentary film crew meet with the only surviving member of the cult, a small girl at the time, now a woman, to return to the camp where it all happened.

From viewing old news footage, the documentary director, Maggie (Jessica Alba), knows the cult camp had many cameras recording everything that happened on the grounds. She’s hoping that Sarah (Lily Rabe), will regain some memories and help lead the film crew to the collection of surveillance tapes. However, when the film crew sets camp at the compound, more than memories return and they are thrust into a world of paranormal horrors. Thomas Jane plays an excellent part as Jim Jacobs, the cult leader that believes his people can rise form the dead. You won’t even recognize him in this part. I have to tell you, the more he speaks in this film, the more I believe him…and that’s what makes cults scary.

The only real drawback of the film is, why would the FBI leave all this reel footage and video at the compound? It wasn’t hard to find. It’s a big pill to swallow, but if you can see past that aspect, it’s a good flick. In the end this is actually more interesting than scary. What would you call that type of film? It feels inspired by the People’s Temple/ Jonestown suicide cult of the 1970s (with leader Jim Jones) and a little of the Heaven’s Gate cult of the 90’s.

A well-written, smart, psychological and paranormal thriller that works on many levels.
I give it 3.5 creepy cult leader conspiracies out of 5 on the dystopian commune killers scale.

The Veil Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR7qOgB3axc

Trivia: If this feels like a found footage film that is because it was originally intended to be an FF film. The script was later changed to a standard film because of the overabundance of FF films on the market.

Jonestown and Jim Jones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHr8JCovZG8

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parlor of horror – movie review