The Lurking Man

THE LURKING MAN reminds us of Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN, a masterpiece of graphic novels which employed mythology and an anthropomorphic representation of Death as means to explore life in the modern age. Brikisak and Rommel mix a harrowing addiction drama with a supernatural battle over a woman's soul which is more effective as a vehicle to tell a story about alcohol abuse and mental disorder than if this had been a straightforward narrative without the fantastical elements. In the "normal world" Cailean's life has been pretty rough, a story not unlike the one's we've heard of people struggling with sobriety: a history of sexual abuse as a child, broken home, divorce, custody battles, etc. But when the script transports Cailean from her mundane life into a supernatural realm, then the story becomes much grander in scope in ideas and becomes a mythological story akin to Faust. Who better than the Angel of Death to show Cailean what a mess her life has been up until the moment she's dying. In life, Cailean never allowed anyone to call her out on her mistakes and poor life decisions, but in death she has no option but to revisit every painful moment, and worse, she must see every painful moment as it truly was instead of what she convinced herself it was. Brikisak pulls double duty as she portrays Cailean herself, her performance is fearless as there's no ego, she fully commits in portraying this shell of a woman, broken beyond repair. Her struggle with her inner demons and the drink is a compelling a realistic approach to how painful such existence is. It's hard to empathize with her at times, but we do feel sympathy for her. This is not an easy performance to pull-off, she goes from being an emotional wreck, to abusive to finally seeking redemption and she's giving it her all every step of the way. Daniel Lench plays Sariel, the Angel of Death, imbuing this elemental force with a regal quality and creepiness augmented in great part thanks to fantastic creature design and make-up, which allows for Lench's expressions to show through, he comes off as a Nosferatu-like creature that skates the line between benign and malevolent, teasing and judging while also offering salvation. Frank Kruger as Cailean's ex-husband Wilson and Dorian Gregory as her new flame portray two very different men who are nevertheless concerned with her well-being despite being treated poorly by Cailean. Finally, Jentzen Ramirez as Cailean's paraplegic son Beau, amazes with a fantastic performance as he turns out to be quite the find.

Maritza is a true Renaissance woman of the horror genre. She co-wrote, executive produced, played the lead role beautifully, edited the film, designed the poster, and did an incredible job at all of it. This film has justifiably won numerous awards. And as Maritza says, "it's the only horror movie that makes people cry"! Truly, a remarkable achievement.

I seriously dont know why this is categorized as horror, there is nothing but a bit of makeup and concept that would lead one there. This is more of a drama/suspense about addiction, relationships and life choices that utilizes a so called "demon" as a sort of metaphor for the bad choices & alcohol addiction. I think it's a 7 or 8 if you struggle with addiction based on story concept and metaphors brought forth. I think it's a 5 overall if you are not an addict based mostly on camera/filming issues. Overall, a 6 because it's a great story, the acting is mostly good and great effort by lead for also writing and directing. I would commend her/them on a job well done for an indie film. Worth watching, for sure worth it if you struggle with addiction.

Not a horror film in the least Fantasy/Drama is more accurate. This film is neither as bad as some people here suggest, or as good as the, likely fake, reviews say. "The Lurking Man: is an uneven but compelling low-budget film, that offers an interesting narrative, based on a tired premise. As always, go look at what I review, I review tons of low-budget films, and I do not review them the same way I do big budget films, I adjust my expectations.

There are parts of the script for "The Lurking Man" that are brilliant, particularly the parts dealing with Cailean's alcoholism are well-written, realistic, and extremely depressing as they should be. I thought the depiction of her alcoholism was very realistic, and her downward spiral almost as difficult to watch as "Leaving for Las Vegas", though I am not comparing the quality of these films, they are continents apart. What drives her alcoholism is also a lot more interesting than your typical backstory for an alcoholic. The worst parts of this script, however, are the parts with the titular "Lurking Man", compared to the rest of the script, it comes off as very amateurish, silly, and just not dark and haunting the way it should be. Thus "The Lurking Man" is very uneven, as a drama about an alcoholic mother who is beyond redemption, it shines, but as a supernatural thriller, it falls 100% flat.

The direction is okay, not good, and cinematography is decent for the budget, nothing great, but not bad enough to make you hate the movie. For a low-budget film, sometimes, that's all you can ask. By design the scenes can be a bit jumpy due to flashbacks, it's not bad editing, it's just how the narrative is set up, for better, or for worse. Either you're going to like the way the narrative is layed out or you wont. It was hard to follow at first, as most films with jumpy narratives are, but as it went on, it made more sense.

Despite this, I found the film compelling, and the acting was good enough, even though Maritza has a very thick accent, it is because she is from Chile. Despite her accent, I found her performance convincing, compelling, and very depressing to watch, particularly a few scenes with her son towards the end. Based on what the credits say, she also wrote the script and directed(it does not say she directed on here though), which I find interesting. This is apparently, the second in a series, and from what I can tell, is actually a prequel to the first film "The Cursed Man".

I found this film interesting enough, I will likely seek out "The Cursed Man" and "A Sinful Man" when it comes out, but I can see why many people dislike this film. It isn't for everyone, and as stated earlier, some of it is not well executed, and takes away from the other compelling parts of the film. Some people will really enjoy the realistic depiction of alcoholism and forgive it's many flaws like I did, but others, will be unable to be so kind.

God Bless ~Amy

Loved this film of redemption, filled with twists and turns of complex emotions anesthetized by alcoholism to forget mistakes of the past. When do the mistakes finally go away? When does the ache for refusing to accept frail personality clinks, drowned by bottles, to dismiss scars that are deep and still seeping blood.

Great cast led by Maritza and Daniel. Their combative communications to get down to the bottom of the dark past. The cast brought their characters full circle. Incredible story, written by Keith and Maritza. Movie has heightened the desire to want to include reading the book. Amazing emotions, I too felt her grief and torn on how to feel about Cailean. Her turmoil immense. Trying to keep it together, haunted by her past. Love cant save her, the bandaid and illusions are ripped off and shattered. Many confusing actions of her own destruction, no matter how hard she tries, she falls. Doing the same thing expecting different results kept her repeating life lessons.

Enjoyed the threads of turmoil and fight to try and "be good". A good mother, a good lover, hard to be good if you forgot who you are, after all the years of suppression. Her inner conflicts relayed in her relationships parents, lover, child and her inner child.

Thoroughly enjoyed the suspense that led to the conclusion that was an incredible twist. Loved it! Would certainly love to see a part two to this, desiring to see Cailean in her new powerful role. She was always strong, her intense love carried her through to do "the right thing".

Indie film with a tug of the heart that keeps me hooked to further discover Caileans final decision. Congratulations to everyone.