marksimmons23

I wasn't expecting much, but "The Redeemer" really entertained me. The low budget, poor quality stock, and choppy editing didn't distract from what is a weirdly atmospheric mash-up of a stereotypical "school reunion" slasher movie with a late 1970's satanic supernatural chiller. There's some excellent almost dreamlike scenes, especially the duck hunter, the use of masks and giant mascot heads, and the theatre performance, which comes complete with a creepy life size puppet. There's also plenty of religious symbolism, including the victims seated at a buffet similar to the disciples at the Last Supper. The appearance of six fingers on the hand of one character reminded me of an Old Testament biblical reference to fallen angels, which would match with the words of the written narration at the beginning and end. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but certainly worth a watch if you're bored with the same old modern horror cliches and want something different.

Strangely this has little to do with the classic tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde : rather it's a werewolf film, but with a plot based on folklore closer to the Universal style of vampire movie. I suspect that Edgar G. Ulmer (who also made the brilliant "The Black Cat", and the Noir favourite "Detour") really wanted to make a vampire film, but ended up having to use the more marketable and helpfully out of copyright Dr Jekyll theme due to the studio's insistence. Low budgets probably also didn't help. Despite this mismatch, there's plenty for the fan of old horror films, and occasional flashes of the director's potential . Agar and Talbott are watchable regardless of having little to work with, there's some atmospheric dream sequences with excellent cinematography, and a proto-slasher murder of a woman on a telephone which undoubtedly influenced later filmmakers. I can't help but wonder what classic Ulmer could have turned in if he'd had a decent budget and less interference?