Night of the Bastard

...Stumbled across this on Tubi and Loved it! Gritty, fun homage to the 70"s and 80's Satanic/Cult- panic films of that time period, such as "The Devil's Rain", "The Devil Rides Out", and "Hack-O-Lantern", along with "siege"-films like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Assault On Precinct 13"!

Reed plays a troubled loner living in isolation in the desert, who gets pulled into a mess of epic consequences when a wounded camper-lady forces her way into his home, following the Slaughter of her friends by the zealot demon-worshipping cult, now hot on her heels and determined to "include" her in their ritual,.. For Worse!

Led by the vivacious and hopelessly mad Claire, the cultists aren't the most competent or Intimidating, but make up for it with sheer fixated determination! What follows is a harrowing night of violence and hopelessness, with a surprising (but not ultimately unexpected) revelation and display of mad depravity, and a bleak but ironically humorous finale.

This was a surprisingly impressive feature directorial debut, with great performances and a ton of gory practical effects! Highly recommended!

What. A. Load. Of. Crap. There are only a few critics that I usual trust, and Jim Morrazini of Voices From The Balcony is one of them. Except...he gave this steaming pile of trash 4.5 stars out of 5. It's the only reason I watched this movie. I want my hour and twenty some minutes of life back that I wasted on this horribly written, amateurishly directed, poorly acted mess. London May should stick to playing drums for washed up metal bands, for an actor he is not. There is not a single second of this that isn't bad. I admire what the filmmakers were trying to do, but they failed miserably. Possibly the worst movie I've seen this year.

I went into this without knowing one thing about it.

And it turned out to be pretty good fun.

Ok, it's not the biggest surprise. But the movie kept me entertained the whole time.

The anti hero Reed had his heart in the right place.

Starting of as a grumpy, lonely, alcoholic nobody somewhere in a dessert. With fresh reluctance he's going to help the damsel in distress Kierra.

Trying to save her, and himself, from some sort of cult with strange rituals (who don't believe in guns)...

The story isn't flawless and the members of the coven/cult are indeed pretty dumb. But the story kept the pace going. With a little bit of humor sprinkled into it.

I wish they did more with Creed's OCD... The practical fx are alright And the last scene gave me a big smile, all though pretty grimm.

You go Marlon!!!

I recently watched Night of the B@stard (2022) on Shudder. The story follows a young woman who barely survives a brutal attack by a cult. She stumbles upon the remote home of a strange, reclusive man who offers her shelter-and despite his odd demeanor, he's willing to protect her. Together, they must fight to survive as the cult closes in.

Directed by Erik Boccio (The West Files), the film stars London May (Hunting Games), Kaikane (The Last Podcast), Hannah Pierce (The Hunted), and Henry Mortensen (Crimson Tide).

This is one of those films that tries to do a bit of everything, but doesn't quite succeed at any of it. The opening birth scene is wild, well-executed, and genuinely hard to watch-in a good way. Some of the horror elements work, and there's a fair amount of blood splatter for gore fans. However, the acting and dialogue are mediocre, feeling more like made-for-TV quality. The villain is striking, and there's some nudity-especially in the final act.

In conclusion, Night of the B@stard has a few attention-grabbing moments, but not enough to make it worthwhile. I'd give it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it-unless you're specifically looking for something offbeat.