London Voodoo

Voodoo is alive and fashionable in this novel, swank supernatural chiller! Engaging, to-the-point cinematography, Steven Severin's moody score, and a fresh, pensive story make London Voodoo an arty choice for the thinking horror patron. It's brooding, yet suspenseful, with good timing and a quick pace. This is writer/director Robert Patten's first of two independent feature efforts. Patten achieves a good balance between credible horror and reality that doesn't insult our intelligence.

Business executive Lincoln Mathers (Doug Cockel) and his wife Sarah (Sara Stewart), move to a posh London town house. It's everything they could want. Quaint, chic, and historic, with a pair of century-old corpses in the basement. Of course, the moldy cadavers aren't a selling point. Sarah discovers them during renovations. That's normal for an old historic house, right? Except maybe for the eyes-rolled-up-in-the-back-of-her-head seizure Sarah endures when she tampers with them Buried with the bodies are oddball religious artifacts. Sarah's damned curious. Her latest hobby is local historical research, and she wants to solve the cadaver mystery. Doug is overwhelmed with a new high-salaried, 16 hour-a-day, executive position. He wants Sarah out of his hair so he leaves her to it.

Makes sense.

Sarah's hobby turns out to be ... well, consuming. The cellar dwellers aren't actually dead, they just smell that way. They're an evil Voodoo priestess and her lover, slain by her prior followers. The un-dead duo decide that existing in their decaying, de-animated bodies under the basement floor is a bit boring. The priestess condemns Sarah's sumptuous body for a soul transfer, and she's taking possession now! Before you can say, "that old black magic," Sarah's mere presence sours milk and rots fruit.. She finds deep joy in collecting bits of Doug's skin and hair. Sarah prowls the flat like a puma in heat. clad in BDSM lingerie, nipples erect, an obsessive, determined look in her eye. When Doug postpones sex to read a prospectus sent home by the boss, Sarah rips off the cover page, stuffs it between her legs, then crams it in his mouth while cursing in Creole.

The friendly neighborhood Voodoo sect wants to help, but Doug dismisses them as crackpots. ( Not that they're any stranger than the way Sarah's been acting.) Doug's too distracted with his soul sucking finance job to do more than write off Sarah's shenanigans as a midlife crisis. But as Sarah transforms into an undulating, deviant, sexually insatiable vixen, family politics grow awkward.

That local Voodoo cult has a solution, if Doug will only listen. It's not a pleasant treatment option to say the least, but Doug had better wise up because the Voodoo vixen and her dead lover think Doug's man-flesh is just what the witch doctor ordered.

Viewers may remember movie composer Steven Severin from Siouxsie and the Banshees and Sara Stewart as Martha Wayne in Batman Begins.

Fans of the genre seeking other intelligent entries of the same quality as London Voodoo might also enjoy Don't Look Now (1973), The Serpent and The Rainbow (1988), and True Believer (1989).

One of the worst films I've seen (but not the worst so I'll give it that.)

It's clear that someone spent a lot of time and effort making this film but I must admit it just didn't do it for me. The various camera experiments didn't really pay off, it's still got that kind of daytime drama feel to it, (great for daytime dramas, not so good for films) and the less said about the painful slow motion scene the better.

A couple of the plot lines were more than a little ridiculous and generally the story was fairly poor. The script was only rescued by the comedy builders with their refreshingly bawdy banter. (There were other parts of this film that amused me but I don't think they were meant to.)

If you want a good Voodoo film then try Skeleton Key, it's a bit glossy Hollywood but it's better than this.

Whilst Rob Pratten has to be commended for making a truly independent british horror film, the end result, like most British independent horror films is a mixed bag in which the film makers undeniable talent and ambition is compromised by a lack of resources and self restraint. Lifting several cliched ideas from The Omen and Amityville Horror, London Voodoo tells the tale of an unlikely American couple who move to London in an attempt to salvage their relationship, but whose fortunes take a turn for the worse when they discover that their new home is haunted by a voodoo spirit. Whilst you can see the commercial logic in writing american characters into the lead roles, the unknown, ex-pat actors that Pratten cast, both deliver uncharismatic leaden performances and their characters are written in such a heavy handed, unsympathetic way that unfortunately this debut effort falls at the first hurdle. Once you get over this initial disappointment, there are moments and contributions that suggest what could have been, particularly Trisha Mortimer as the 'love-keeper' who manages to breath life into Prattens inconsistant dialogue and Voda Barnes who although over-written is suitably sexy as the Au-Pair. Comic relief is provided by the two decorators and supporting afro-carribean cast add flavour to otherwise dull proceedings. Also worthy of note are the businessmen in the office scenes, which demonstrate that when Pratten is not trying to make a load of spookery convince, he's actually quite a good writer/director. Shot hand held on 16mm with basic lighting the film has the look of a television special, the locations are functional as opposed to aesthetic and the synthesised score home-spun and cliched. The best production values can be found in the voodoo paraphanalia which suggest authenticity and a great deal of research. At 98 minutes the film is too long and would benefit tremendously from a ten minute trim, particularly the scenes where various voodoo practioners stop the narrative dead to deliver pages of expository mumbo jumbo in an attempt to give some kind of spiritual context to the proceedings. I gave this film 4 out of 10, shows promise but must try harder.

Wow this was the best acting in a film that i have seen in ages, best actor award definitely goes to the 2 year old girl. She was awesome. I have to say the best part of the

film was definitely the credits! well done and congrats on the

DVD cover, it sucked me into watching this comedic film! I recommend a viewing audience of no one. i also recommend acting lessons for the cast except for the little girl she will be a star in no time.

Please do not make a movie again like this. Sometimes i wish that i had a genie, so that i could wish that i had never seen this film. Or i could wish that i had made this film with the 20 dollars in my wallet and made a better film than this. Then again i don't have 20 dollars! or i could also wish that a voodoo doll came with the film, so that i could play with it and not watch the film.

Lincoln and Sara move into a new home in London and his wife's behavior begins to grow erratic. After opening a grave in their basement, she becomes more sexual, more violent, and begins to forget things. A nanny is brought in to help around the house, but only adds to the tension. Eventually, Lincoln finds him in a fight for his wife's soul with a spirit of a voodoo priestess.

The film works on different levels mainly because it keeps you guessing and never completely gives away all the answers. As you watch the scenes unfold, you wonder if the Sara is possessed, just going crazy like her mother had, or that the crazy nanny is out to get her. In the end, it is a weird combo of all of the above, which makes the storytelling top notch.

Each character is very detailed with their own share of problems. The husband is overloaded at work, deals with a jerky boss, and is put on a tight deadline that challenges his sleep schedule. The wife suffers from a loss of identity and is bored with her new life as a homemaker. The babysitter is plain nutty and comes off as caring and sadistic at the same time.

Overall, I think the film is symbolic of a couple growing apart and their marriage crumbling. Her changes are similar to what any woman would go through if forced to sit in a house all day especially when competing with another, more younger woman. The husband struggling to save the soul of his wife is really an attempt to save their marriage. He must repent and they start anew.

Released by Heretic Films in 2004, it clocks in at 99 minutes. While it was shot on video, the story doesn't suffer from it. Also, the Winner of the 2004 Fearless Tales Genre Fest and Boston Int. Film Fest. Composer Steven Severin adds much atmosphere to the already creepy scenes with his pulsating background music.

The SFX was great with a few good bloody scenes such as a scalping, a nose bitten half off, slit wrists, and a man fatally hit by a car. There is also weird imagery such as a pissing in a pot scene, lipstick drawn over an eye, and honey dripping off of fishhooks. The most trippy scene though was when Lincoln goes through his "cleansing" in the nude and is swatted with sticks and dances around in a daze with the voodoo followers. There is great insight given here on the religion of voodoo and its history in the UK.

DVD Extras: 10 Deleted Scenes, the trailer, Making of Documentary, and Interview with Voodoo Priest, which covers some of the voodoo lore.

Bottom Line: Top shelf voodoo film with a good story to boot. Highly recommended for fans of The Skeleton Key.

Rating: 7.5/10 by Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com