Sator

Here's a film about men with beards and an old lady that hears voices. And some spooky stuff in the woods too. It's a good eerie setting and the silence works for tension building but character motives are never established. A lot of what is happening is implied. Maybe I missed a bit or a lot of the subtext. So while I could dismiss Sator as cryptic nonsense, it's very well made to string you along and is visually pleasing throughout, enough so that's it's an alright film overall.

I think you probably can enjoy this if you take 10 double espressos.

Interesting atmosphere. That's it. I totally believe that people who create this all-artsy horror films are the same people who pay 1000£ for a meal in a gourmet restaurant. Very pretty, but in truth, your mum's food tastes much better.

And what a waste of a very interesting cinematography and creatures design. 😴

Part 'Blair Witch', part Lynch and a little bit of last years 'The Dark And The Wicked'. This one will be a divider among fans of horror but i for one loved it. An incredible technical feat (the worst shot in this movie which was made by literally one person looks better than anything my mortal enemies the Russo brothers have ever filmed), as well as a solid piece of perverse and haunting minimalist horror. My main reservation about it is that as much as I like this kind of oblique storytelling I do wish this screenplay had just the tiniest bit more meat on its bones. Not narratively, but thematically.

The whole "let the audience figure it out" thing is getting played out. Here's a film that's very well shot and features a constant sense of dread, is as spooky as it gets, BUT ... the script is nearly non existent and the pacing will test anyone's patience. Seriously. Enough with the "this will reward patient viewers" nonsense. Hire a script writer FFS.

The film is nearly very good but after a long build up that's too slow, tension has been barely built and the climax is utterly disappointing. It's the 'blockbuster indie' genre-aesthetic of the Witch (and similar films) which I thinks great but again despite promise or direction this is never fulfilled with a set piece or anything.

The film also attempts an abstract storytelling by the end but this is a bit hamfisted and instead feels a bit like poor writing or just plain nonsense.

Nothing new with the story, spirits encroach on the material world, corrupting a family until disturbing violence erupts. The deer skull and gas lantern style is one of my favourites but really could have been amped up, you'll know what I mean by the end when you've barely seen anything terrifying happen at all...

I definitely wanted the film to be much better than it was, but it wasn't! Don't necessarily avoid but I wouldn't seek it out.