The Breach

Pretty good reworking of the Lovecraft tale that was used as the basis for the far better film From Beyond made in 1986. I've read a novel by Nick Cutter, who was the writer/adapter of this screenplay, and enjoyed it enough to give this film a chance.

The acting from the entire cast is decent, and it is nice to see a lot of practical effects used in lieu of CGI. While the final third is exciting, it leaves too many unanswered questions, although it does have a nasty final sting for the viewer.

I'd say it's worth 90 minutes of your time if you don't mind a slow buildup to the third act. I was never bored with it.

There are some kind of cool practical effects but they're shown in bright light and the digital enhancement is not good. It reminded me very much of From Beyond but with a drastically lower budget.

Some monsters near the end just kind of seem like zombies stumbling around outside, which is disappointing. The idea isn't bad but as a horror fan, I really want a lot more practical effects and the lighting is rather flat.

You can see elements of The Fly in there too but it's not really unique enough on its own. The pacing is a tad slow too although I was entertained enough. The ending was great. I probably wouldn't watch it again though.

If you watch a lot of movies influenced by the stories of William Hope Hodgson, H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth, you might rate this a point or two higher because on some weird level you enjoy having your hopes dashed. For anyone else, this score might even be too generous.

It's a real shame, because the early setup of the film is great. It makes you think you're actually going to get a good Lovecraft-esque film (there's the ol' masochism again!). The opening titles are stylish. The actor who plays Connie has immediate charisma (sadly, she is underused). There's an intriguing early discovery which legitimately leads on to the next stage of the story. Sure, it's a tiny bit shaky, a little bit goofy, but that's par for the course in indie movies of the type; overall it looks like it's shaping up to be one of the good ones in the cosmic horror genre. You'll even see an actor who might recognise if you're a glutton for punishment: her from The Strain, yes (along with Connie's actor, the best performances here).

But there's a point where the wobbles suddenly escalate and soon after that the project completely falls on its arse. Any enthusiasm I had for the film ebbed away to nothing. It's as if an evil film crew came through the veil and replaced the original crew, wickedly sabotaging and unpicking all the good work that went before. Even Slash's soundtrack, which is never good, gets noticeably worse throughout.

So yeah... this is based on the book by Nick Cutter. He also wrote one of the craziest horror books called, THE TROOP. He also wrote one of my favorites called, THE DEEP.

His writing style is very aggressive. He really gets dirty & brutal, some really wicked stuff... not for everyone lol.

HOWEVER! I then see this on Amazon... I had semi hopes of it being good.

What I got was... well... sorta bland & nothing special...the monster was neat when first shown (bedroom) and how it moved in that scene was great... then... you start seeing a bunch of them lol and well... let's just say some of them are painfully obvious a rubber body suit...

The story was fine ish... but Cutters books are SO SO SO in depth, & fleshed out that you just can't really properly explain a doorway built to other dimensions in a 90 minute film lol.

Actually would've probably been a very decent 4 part mini series or something!

The ending I saw coming a mile away... I'll just say... Cutter doesn't do "happy endings" in his novels.

This had a lot of potential to be a 7+ rating movie imo.

If you're just killing time? It'll do. If you're looking for some wicked good horror from outer dimensions? Just go with THE VOID.

I'd heard of The Breach back in 2022 and certainly found the basic premise to be intriguing. A small town police chief (played by Alan Hawco) is investigating the apparent death of a former CERN physicist after a corpse is discovered upon a drifting boat. As he explores the man's remote home, he makes horrific discoveries about his experiments...

Written by Nick Cutter of The Troop fame, with clear Lovecraftian influences, the story is solid and sets up a nice mystery. The effects are mostly well executed (though, please, can horror films reduce their use of smoke machines?), the creature designs are suitably detailed and revolting, Hawco is cleary charming in the lead and the film is brave enough not to bombard the viewer with gore from the start. It is, however, not without its problems, some minor, others not so minor. The film would have benefitted from more focus on the central mystery and trying to build more intrigue around it. Whilst the pacing is reliable throughout, it doesn't create the energy and haste needed during its finale. And, probably my biggest complaint is the ending: it's too predictable and left me feeling dissatisfied. I think they could have been braver without some of their choices in final act.

I do feel it is necessary, however, to point out that it maintained my interest for 90 minutes, didn't decide to draw itself out for a wholly unnecessary 2-plus hours and, for an indie production, it looks excellent. Worthy of a rental for horror fans.