The Lurking Man

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.

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.

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.

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.

Real good, this film is dope. Heart in my mouth, good.