Archons

Archons is a psychological thrilller / horror that picks up the 'tried and true' theme of something lurking in the woods. The movie starts with a 35 minute slow burn where characters are developed. The story revolves around a three member band that was a borderline one-hit wonder years ago. They head off on a five day canoe/hike trip - you guessed it - deep into the woods. The upper Canadian Rockies in this case. The purpose is a spiritual journey to inspire their guitarist song writer's mental block. And like any credible rock band, they have enough drugs to fill a pharmacy. The lead vocalist - like any credible rock star - picks up a groupie as well along the way.

It then becomes apparent that something(s) are watching them. Ironically, the only time they are aware of being watched, however, is when they are high on acid. So the blur between real and 'not real' is central. The acting wasn't bad. But the plot moved.in a disjointed fashion and the last 10 minutes made little sense. As for the things in the woods - well, B-budget shines through there sadly. I feel like the movie could have been cool - but ended up falling flat.

The ending makes this movie somewhat clear, "Where are your friends?" "I'm waiting for them to catch up.", in the sense of what the writer/director was going for, but the script itself does not work, or is not as clear as they thought or think it is. It's tough for writers to imagine what they see as symbolic or metaphorical is actually perceived by their audience. Sometimes they are "too close" to the work to evaluate it properly. That is why authors let friends/family/editors read or view their works before they publish/release them. If these reviewers are sychophants, then we end up with this kind of work because no one tells the author the truth, that the symbols/ideas need some retooling. There are good ideas here, and I wish the creators had taken more time to get good feedback. It won a best movie award. Why? Because all too often when people don't understand something, they think it must be great because the creator is intelligent. There are serious problems with this film that could be fixed. Maybe those clarifying elements are lying on the cutting room floor. They certainly are not in the final product.

I usually rate movies worse than the IMDb rating, this is one of the more glaring exceptions. I liked Black Mountain Side from the director and this one is in the same slow building atmospheric Lovecraft subgenre. It's not perfect, actors and pacing could have been better, but Szostakiwskyj creates a one of a kind mood, I very much enjoy, especially in the later half of the movie. I really hope we get more films of this kind from him!

I had high hopes for this film - Nick Szostakiwskyj's previous offering, *Black Mountain Side*, is a criminally underrated folk horror. But there's no story here, no continuity or coherence, no attempt to explore the mythology. I'm still not entirely sure what I just watched.

Edit: It is better on a second watch, but only slightly. Yes, it's beautifully shot. Yes, the audio is great. Yes, the actors are on point. I guess I either wanted to know more about the nature of the threat or see less of it.

If you standard of quality for monster movies worth watching is nothing less than that of Aliens, then Archons will disappoint. If you are more laid back about such matters, this movie is fine entertainment. The four principle characters are interesting, each in a unique way, and chemistry between them is quickly established. All this helps a viewer care what happens to them, which is important for maintaining interest during the first 40 minutes, when the story is developing a bit slow as they canoe down a Canadian river.

Special mention should also be made of Cameron Tremblay's work with lighting and colors. His efforts really helped establish an ominous ambience right from the start.