The Lurking Man

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.

Not a horror film in the least Fantasy/Drama is more accurate. This film is neither as bad as some people here suggest, or as good as the, likely fake, reviews say. "The Lurking Man: is an uneven but compelling low-budget film, that offers an interesting narrative, based on a tired premise. As always, go look at what I review, I review tons of low-budget films, and I do not review them the same way I do big budget films, I adjust my expectations.

There are parts of the script for "The Lurking Man" that are brilliant, particularly the parts dealing with Cailean's alcoholism are well-written, realistic, and extremely depressing as they should be. I thought the depiction of her alcoholism was very realistic, and her downward spiral almost as difficult to watch as "Leaving for Las Vegas", though I am not comparing the quality of these films, they are continents apart. What drives her alcoholism is also a lot more interesting than your typical backstory for an alcoholic. The worst parts of this script, however, are the parts with the titular "Lurking Man", compared to the rest of the script, it comes off as very amateurish, silly, and just not dark and haunting the way it should be. Thus "The Lurking Man" is very uneven, as a drama about an alcoholic mother who is beyond redemption, it shines, but as a supernatural thriller, it falls 100% flat.

The direction is okay, not good, and cinematography is decent for the budget, nothing great, but not bad enough to make you hate the movie. For a low-budget film, sometimes, that's all you can ask. By design the scenes can be a bit jumpy due to flashbacks, it's not bad editing, it's just how the narrative is set up, for better, or for worse. Either you're going to like the way the narrative is layed out or you wont. It was hard to follow at first, as most films with jumpy narratives are, but as it went on, it made more sense.

Despite this, I found the film compelling, and the acting was good enough, even though Maritza has a very thick accent, it is because she is from Chile. Despite her accent, I found her performance convincing, compelling, and very depressing to watch, particularly a few scenes with her son towards the end. Based on what the credits say, she also wrote the script and directed(it does not say she directed on here though), which I find interesting. This is apparently, the second in a series, and from what I can tell, is actually a prequel to the first film "The Cursed Man".

I found this film interesting enough, I will likely seek out "The Cursed Man" and "A Sinful Man" when it comes out, but I can see why many people dislike this film. It isn't for everyone, and as stated earlier, some of it is not well executed, and takes away from the other compelling parts of the film. Some people will really enjoy the realistic depiction of alcoholism and forgive it's many flaws like I did, but others, will be unable to be so kind.

God Bless ~Amy

Have to say, horror films are not my first choice. My bf rented it and I was totally blown away. The story was sad, mixed with life lesson of numbing the senses with alcohol just to get through the guilt of past mistakes. The beginning and end was real awesome. Gotta say, the wings were way cool. I really liked this film. Lots of touching scenes. To my surprise the scary turn at the end had me wanting to know more. Cool stuff

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.