Spirit of Fear

Oh, my. Where do I begin? Let me first start off by saying that I wanted to like this movie. I did not go into watching it in order to be disappointed by it; that was NOT my intention. It was a day off for me and I was excited about the prospects of it. It took place in some house, which I'm good with. It was doing a ranch-house-of-doom sort of thing like "Sinister" and I already had high hopes for it! I liked the first "Sinister" and if this movie had been anything like that, it would have been better. But it wasn't. It was poorly paced, the scares were practically non-existent and there wasn't even any real piece of dialogue until the middle of the film and he was talking to himself! It could have been so much better than it was. The main character spent the entire film looking highly concerned, as if he'd forgotten to do his taxes and it was April 14th. That's it.

The entire movie was a disappointment because all it was about was possession and it wasn't even one of the exciting possession-style films. I SERIOUSLY debated against watching this or watching "The Possession of Deborah Logan" again because it had been a while since I'd seen it; it was helluva film. I know now that I made the WRONG choice.

I feel like I've wasted time that I will never get back. Please, do not see this movie. I just want you to know that if you watched this movie, then walked outside and got hit by bus, THIS WAS LAST MOVIE YOU SAW. Don't do that to yourself. Please.

And the ONLY reason I gave it two stars as opposed to one was because they managed to convince my stupid @$$ to finish watching it. I really thought something, ANYTHING was going to happen! 😬🤣

OK this one was right up my alley. Man wakes up in an empty house covered in blood with no explanation, no memory, and no escape. Clues have been left around the house on sticky notes, but none of them seem to add up. Ultimately we get both an escape room type of scenario, with a lurking evil presence to add to the tension, and a deep dive into one man's psyche. It's a classic Twilight Zone setup and I was totally engaged the entire runtime despite the minimalist approach to locations, cast, sound design, and dialogue.

Fantastic cinematography and score are the glue that holds this film together. The ending totally sticks the landing for me. I wish there were more of these types of well thought out indie movies in the horror/suspense genre.

I can't believe I wasted an hour and a quarter of my life on this rubbish!! It was a recommendation from a friend, and he glorified and praised it a lot, and he gave it 7/10, which made me deceived and agreed to watch it. I do not know what is dazzling about this movie, and he liked it to this degree! I'm really shocked, it's a completely empty movie, its story is cliché, the twisted plot is weak, and it's not worth all this tedium. I'm going to block this person who gave it to me as a recommendation *very angry*

Don't watch this movie Don't watch this movie Don't watch this movie Don't watch this movie.

Half a hour into this micro budget, film school nonsense and that was enough for me. I have better things to do with my time.

So why did I give a two out of ten? Because at least they had a go and got a movie made, that's why. It might not be for me but someone might like it.

For the record, the bits of the movie that I did see had a man wake up in a house covered in blood but seemingly with no idea how any of this happened. He wanders round the house in silence and tries to piece together how he arrived at this situation.

The post it notes bit has been lifted from 'Momento'. A much better movie than this.

This film is slow moving, yet atmospheric.

Extremely minimalist.

Being almost completely void of dialogue.

Mysterious.

Though, not in a particularly engaging way.

Somewhat psychological.

A bit supernatural.

And even a touch satanic.

But, mostly, it's just a guy wandering his house with a knife, trying to solve a mystery.

Amidst vague warnings, he may or may not have left himself on post-it notes.

What's clear...is that he had a wife and daughter...who aren't present...after waking up with an arm covered in blood.

Seemingly, without any memory as to how or why he ended up in such a state.

Either way...it starts to seem like he has become trapped in a hellish purgatory, of his own making...or something like that, at least.

One from which he must escape, perhaps, in order to be redeemed.

If it is not just a punishment, for his wrongdoings, that is.

Did he murder his family? Kill his daughter? Or lose them to a situation of domestic abuse?

Might he be stuck in a coma?

You are purposely left in the dark, and, thus, can only speculate.

As you wait for some sort of explanation- and payoff- in the end.

Luckily, it's rather a short film.

Clocking in at barely over 70 minutes.

So you don't need to invest an inordinate amount of time, in order to indulge, in it.

That being said...the mystery already starts to feel a bit redundant by the 40 minute mark.

As he is forced to reflect on a series of incidents from his past.

Prior to the twist kicking in, to offer some semblance of an explanation.

One which I could very well see many people thinking is a bit too predictable.

That being said...it's not necessarily a bad film, overall.

Just a simple one.

That could be seen as entertaining, if you aren't expecting anything too groundbreaking.

But it could, fairly, be considered to be just boring, at the same time.

Hence the divergent views, from reviewer to reviewer.

It does seem to have a bit of a religious tone to it, as well.

Which could also be a point of contention.

Though, it didn't bother me.

Because it isn't particularly preachy (like, say, Nefarious is).

But it's certainly nothing special.

2.5 out of 10.