Apprentice to Murder

A very fine movie, totally underrated. Despite a bad box for the DVD edition, this is NOT a "horror flick", but a greatly interesting and subtle approach of a strange and complex relationship between an influenced young man (Lowe) and a disturbed pow-wow-preacher, tortured by his secret fears -- and desires... Homosexual implications, wonderful camera work, and great musical score by Charles Gross. There is a magic in this movie, which places it somewhere between "The Night of the hunter" and "The Reflecting skin". Felicitations to R.L. Thomas. Oh !... and Donald Sutherland is memorable !... His performance is suave, well balanced, and constantly precise.

"Apprentice to Murder" carries an interesting theme with its narrative about a young man (Chad Lowe) who befriends a medicine man (Donald Sutherland) who can feel the presence of demon in other people and decides to commit murders in the name of God. Sounds something you seen before in other movies but this time we have a real life story that took place in the late 1920's. However the movie fails to deliver an interesting story and also fails to make viewers curious or deeply interested in the story thanks to a slow oriented presentation that takes ages to reach its summit and present the horrific elements behind the final murder.

Here's a regular and weak movie with some fine performances. Too bad those don't match with such a film that wastes the use of good actors (Eddie Jones is amazing as the boy's drunken father, and Donald plays the usual sinister type). The more it progresses the more the film gets stuck with repetition and a really progression of events that waste everybody's time. Don't waste yours, not even out of curiosity in seeing how the performances and settings go. 5/10.

If you're planning to watch this simply because you're a Donald Sutherland fan, don't bother. He isn't likely to impress you with his mediocre performance here. As the for the film itself, it's watchable but very minor. It manages to remain reasonably interesting most of the way, but it doesn't have many surprises to offer and it MOVES LIKE MOLASSES!

Donald Sutherland plays a pseudo priest / medicine man in what is supposed to be Pennsylvania Dutch Country, but is actually Norway. Unfortunately this based on fact Devil hunt, doesn't have enough of a story to maintain interest for 97 minutes, and a romantic subplot comes across as nothing but an afterthought. The real problem with "Apprentice to Murder" however, is the fatal flaw of not playing fair with it's audience. What is presented as fact, is suddenly turned upside down, as relates to the powers of a suspected "Devil". If a movie is going to basically trick people for the sake of sensationalism, it better present the trick in a way that leaves room for actually being able to believe the outcome. - MERK

An interestingly odd, if not too successful little folktale curio set in Pennsylvania (although it was shot in Norway) in the 1920s as a teenage boy Billy comes under the influence of a backwoods faith healer Dr. Reese who begins to educate him as he becomes drawn to his mystical charms. But Billy finds himself dragged into strange events which end in terrifying results as they believe the local hermit has the motive and power to cause the devastating blight affecting the small village.

Sometimes being unique and incredibly offbeat just doesn't cut it, if it doesn't entirely deliver the goods. I wanted to like "Apprentice to Murder" a lot more than I did, but I felt like it came up short by not completely coming to life with its dangerous predicament. It never really balances its sensationalised mystic concepts, tending to rely on its character relationships (especially the complicated connection between the boy and the faith healer), humdrum dramatic weight and slow- winding story build-up (some episodic filler) where it can have its flat spells. The most fascinating façade I thought was that of the hermit, which comes across very secondary to everything else, but is the main piece that holds everything together. Still its premise is innovative with a lyrical script that for most part engages with its busy themes.

It's low-key in its approach, which is not a problem but it never really delves into the strange happenings and vivid special effects that seem to torture the faith healer. We get the usual supernatural occurrences, that in the end all of this magic might just be that of a disillusion. But this is supposedly inspired by true events involving a pow-pow preacher and his faith in George Hohmann's "Long Lost Friend" that eventually led to murder. The performances stand up very well with Chad Lowe's responsible turn holding his own alongside a charismatically believable Donald Sutherland as the unorthodox faith healer. He does command the screen in a subtle manner emitting somewhat a creepy undertone. The gorgeous Mia Sara doesn't get all that much to do and Eddie Jones also shows up.

Director R. L Thomas does a sensational job presenting strikingly authentic period details, but also the moody score along with the elegant cinematography are instrumental in crafting enticingly symbolic imagery and an effective atmosphere of a god fearing time engulfing rural communities.