Holy Terror

I really enjoyed watching "Holy Terror". The production value and the cinematography by Gregory Hatanaka were excellent, and the story reels you in. The lighting and the music really set the tone of the film, and added to the suspense. The performances were also very good. I was especially impressed with Scott Butler, Mel Novak, Vida Ghaffari and Lisa London.

People standing around in a dark room talking and whimpering is 90% of the film. There is just no substance, no forward progress through the film, it is a standstill from the first second until the last. This is a sit on the couch and look at your phone type movie, wonder why you watched it and forget it the moment it is over.

"Holy Terror" seems to be a throwback to the late 70's and fans of older horror may appreciate the nostalgia. The plot is familiar tropes: a couple, believing their dead son haunts them, gets a psychic to hold a séance, but it goes wrong and she unleashes the evil spirit into the wife's visiting sister. An exorcism follows, of course. It's been done before, but that seems to be the reverential point. The acting fits the game, with strong echoes of that heightened, old school style; the psychic, exorcist and possessed sister stand out, especially. And any film with the marvelous Mel Novak--though his role is tiny--gets props.

Holy Terror 2017 director by Rich Mallery, produced by Gregory Hatanaka was something I did not expect. I was thrilled with the action and cinematography. Mel Novak far exceeded by expectations with his portrayal of Father Murphy. Realism is key for me. Vida Ghaffari as Hayley did that effortlessly. Jesse Hlubik who played Tom made me think of the subtle affects one can have on the imagination. All in all I liked it and have already recommended it to my friends and family.

First off ignore ALL the fake reviews and ratings this film has received. They're very easy to spot due to their strange wording and overly high praise of the director/producer, in spite of the terrible direction.

Following the high IMDb reviews I checked this film out. I've seen more or less every horror in existence, including many awful movies... This one takes the cake.

The opening scene showed promise, decent acting and very dark. Unfortunately it is all downhill from there. The main couple have absolutely zero chemistry, the dialogue is completely unnatural, camera work is choppy and the score is so over the top. It doesn't help that nobody can act AT ALL... Like high school level shy drama kids. That or the director has butchered any talent they have.

I managed to stick with it until the first "attack" incident and lost it. The acting, awful score that kicks in and all the terrible reactions... I just couldn't handle it anymore. It became very apparent that the IMDb score was fake and we had to the movie off.

Bear in mind that I have watched many over-explained horrors full of baffling moments such as Lights Out and low budget messes like Camp Blood.

Save yourself 20 minutes and watch something else. It isn't even "so bad it's good/watchable".