A Semente do Mal

While filmed well enough and looking at least somewhat polished, there is one element that make Amelia's Children more unintentionally laughable than scary.... While there is great cinematography and some great effects, the main antagonist has this laughably gross look that detracts more than it gives, especially during some of the more significant scenes. The bits of blood are at least done well enough and there is some polish to how scenes look. Night scenes almost have that sense of terror, with some selectively great suspense-building shots and just enough lighting to see what's going on, except again the laughably comical looking antagonist.

Acting is more miss than hit. Performances across the board were wooden, with only a few moments of true acting range during heightened tensions. I wish there was more to say here..... The story is, likewise, barebones and all-too-familiar. Once the bits of backstory come about, you've already guessed most of it and the rest is far too easy to predict..... The soundtrack is a bit too repetitive as well, with far too many similar sounding compositions popping up. Sound effects are only around for specific bits and don't add anything to the scene either.

If you really, really, want to watch a movie with a laughably bad looking antagonist, then I guess Amelia's Children would be the one to watch. Otherwise there isn't much going for it, aside from some great visuals.

I mean, what can I even say about this movie that I absolutely despised? Can I talk about the good elements of it, the parts I enjoyed, the parts that worked to create an interesting narrative? I wish I could, but I honestly can't think of a single redeemable quality in this entire film. The characters were unlikable, the story wanted to be grotesque but wouldn't show you anything to actually induce fear, and even the cinematography was basic and had no passion. The times the movie wanted to be creepy were so few and far between, that the only thing that ended up being truly nightmare inducing was Amelia's face after years of cosmetic surgery.

It's truly incredible how you have a movie about a witch that has children with her own sons and then eats them to regain her youth, a horrifying premise in and of itself, and you end up making the most mundane and least scary movie possible. I just don't understand how this even happened. It's like the creative team read the premise and then decided to not ruffle any feathers, not offend anyone, and not really create anything truly horrific, instead opting to alude to the witch and use dream sequences to sometimes show what she does, but never having the cojones to actually do it.

This is the worst kind of horror movie to me. A movie that uses a great premise but ends up yielding a tame, inoffensive movie where nothing really scary happens, everything is suggested and not actually shown, and the conclusion ties nothing together, leaving the viewer to wonder why he even wasted and hour and a half of his life on this movie. I really wish I would have read reviews for this film beforehand, as I would have wanted to be warned before investing my precious time on a film that wouldn't enrich my life in any way.

This is why I'm writing this review, to save as many of you from watching this movie as possible. Do not make the same mistake as I did, as life is way too short to spend it watching these types of movies that contribute nothing of value to your life. Read a book, take a walk, listen to your favorite album on repeat. Anything is preferable to watching this film.

How people don't love this film is beyond me.

Because, for a year that saw When Evil Lurks pop off...I just don't understand how this ultra creepy, explosive, darkly magical, wild ride hasn't done the same.

Because it is definitely wild.

The whole thing starts off with a child snatching...that has you questioning the intentions of the snatchers...when you see that they have left the child abandoned on the steps of a church.

At first, you think it has something to do with a cult...and, well...maybe it does in a sense...but not remotely in the way you are led to believe.

Because what ensues delves deep in the taboo, in the way that films like Max Mon Amour, The Baby, and Last Stop On The Night Train have in the past...in that they exploit dark and bizarre fetishes that some people clearly can't handle engaging with.

With the plot of this film revolving around mother-son incest.

In a way, you can't help but think about it's affinity with Barbarian...though, in reality, it is a different sort of animal entirely.

Whose truth is unlocked via an engagement with the obsessive art of Spanish painter Francisco De Goya.

Who is considered to be the "Last of the Old Masters, and First of the Moderns"...which, one might argue, acts as a metaphor for this film as a whole.

As we watch the "stolen son" track down his long lost family, in Portugal, after having been raised as an adoptee in America.

He travels, with his girlfriend, to the stately mansion of his forebearers, to meet his aging mother, and the brother he never knew.

Only for things to get, well...quickly weird...to say the least.

As he gets, unwillingly, sucked into a world he never wished for.

While his girlfriend tries to help them escape from a situation she senses isn't quite "right".

With, what ensues being as weird, creepy, and explosive as you could want in a slow burn horror film.

I don't want to give too much away here...because...unlocking it's secrets, yourself, is half the fun!

But I assure you, you won't be disappointed.

That is, unless you have an aversion to the taboo.

But then...why are you even watching horror movies, anyways!?

This is such an underrated film.

And certainly one of the best horror films that 2023 had to offer.

8 out of 10.

In Portugal we trust!

For fans of European psychological horror films, this film is fresh meat.

The atmosphere of the film is really uncomfortable, and we are sucked in by the mystery of the plot, which remains easily fixed until the end.

Alba Baptista had little screen time, but listen to me, this woman deserves more roles in horror films.

It succeeds in delivering deeply unsettling imagery and ideas, and effectively utilizes its runtime well despite the film's very slow pace.

While the film does feel very slow at times, I can respect the fact that its attempts to tell a very complex and disturbing story, which it manages to accomplish with great precision.

As a Portuguese, I was afraid the film wouldn't be what I expected, but this is what we needed and what our COUNTRY needs.

First of all, this movie is mostly in English so don't get scared off by it being Portuguese. The leads both do a commendable job with average dialogue and plot.

Those things really aren't the main reason to watch. It's the creep factor for me. Super freaky mother character with really good prosthetic make-up that steals the show.

The story is also very creepy and I believe is Portuguese folklore. About the witch mother - no more details here you'll have to watch it. You'll find out pretty quick that the house is not going to be a fun place to visit.

Overall it's a good film, not great. Enjoyable horror and well acted. 6.4/10.