Way of the Wicked

"Everything that's been going on around us has all been foretold." After residents of a small town begin to die mysteriously the local cop John Elliott (Jones) is at a loss. When his daughter tells him of an old friend of hers as returned to her school he remembers events of the past. When Father Henry (Slater) shows up and tells Elliott what he thinks is going on he doesn't believe him, but when his daughter becomes a target he is only one who can stop him. If you were to judge this by the cover and cast (like I did originally) you would probably not expect much. Christian Slater has fallen into the Val Kilmer school of acting lately. He does a lot of movies without caring if they are good or not. Vinnie Jones is, well, Vinnie Jones. Armed with those expectations I was looking forward to a long boring movie. While the movie isn't amazing or something I would watch again I have to say that I did end up liking it. The movie is kind of like if Damien went to high school. There are enough horror aspects to appease horror fans and enough drama and intrigue to please non horror fans. This is a B movie and nothing amazing but I expected much worse. I do have to say that this is Slater's best movie in a while. Overall, it's not one of the best movies I have seen in a while but it was entertaining and I wasn't bored. I give this a B.

Father Henry (Christian Slater) investigates Robbie, a 12-year-old boy who seems to have supernatural powers. A bully was chocked to death by an invisible force. Five years later, Robbie Mueller (Jake Croker) returns to town focused on Heather Elliot (Emily Tennant) who tried to help during the childhood incident. Bully Greg wants her for homecoming. When Greg starts pushing Robbie, Greg is hospitalized by the invisible force. Father Henry has also returned. When Greg is killed, Heather's police detective widower-dad John Elliot (Vinnie Jones) investigates.

The production looks weak and is no more than cable TV level. There is way too much sunshine for a dark horror. The cinematography and editing are basic. Even the kill is simple blood splashes and random guts. There is no real energy. The presence of Christian Slater and Vinnie Jones attracted me to this movie but that's never a guarantee of anything. Jake Croker is not leading man material. His character should be darker and he doesn't have the screen presence. Emily Tennant shows a little potential and actually tries to do some acting. The obvious twist is good but not completely done well. The production is so weak that it doesn't have anything to offer cinematically.

Passable for Covid lockdown viewing - only 90 minutes. Not a complete turkey. Credit to

The combination of Christian Slater, Vinnie Jones and the Antichrist is a little weird. Goodness knows what Slater's agent was thinking.

The twist in the ending is somewhat contrived and a letdown.

Credit to Jake Croker for holding his own in the film - in fact he almost ends up 'carrying' it. Some credit too to Aren Buchholz.

Like most viewers, I watched this because I'm a fan of Christian Slater and Vinnie Jones, both of whom are prominently advertised in connection with the movie. A word of warning: Jones only has a major supporting role, while Slater is in the film for about fifteen minutes. A bit of false advertising, then.

Plot-wise, this is pretty unoriginal stuff, coming across as a cross between THE OMEN and TWILIGHT. The storyline involves a kid who's supposed to be the son of the Devil, but instead of crafting a creepy, supernatural horror yarn what we get is a twee TWILIGHT copy full of teenage angst and high-school bullies getting what they deserve.

To be honest, whenever the seasoned actors aren't on screen, this is dull. Jones and Slater are both adequate but we needed a lot more of them to make this a decent film. The romantic stuff is extremely tiresome and seems to have been thrown in either for padding or to appeal to a teenage crowd. Either way it makes this hard to enjoy, even though it has been quite professionally put together. Watch out for one of the dumbest, most pointless twist endings ever.

I only watched it because I like Christian Slater and Vinnie Jones. At least I used to like them before this film. A lame ripoff of movies like The Omen, it unsuccessfully combines high-school drama (in a school for psychos and geeks) police drama (depressed cop raising a daughter) and the spawn of the demon plot that was so ridiculously implemented that I couldn't believe it.

Both Slater and Jones have stupid roles and their wooden acting only shows the disdain they must have had for the entire thing. The main character doesn't act at all; I mean, I can't call it acting. The extras are doing more work than he does and, let me tell you this, they don't do any.

Bottom line: avoid this film like the plague. It is not one of those films that some people hate and some people love, it is a movie that no one will ever remember. You've been warned.