Medusa

Looking for the good part. Never found it. An hour I'll never get back. Slow, boring, and I keep writing words until this says my review is long enough to post.

"MEDUSA"

Summoning the Spirit

Amos Lassen

What I love about Jorge Ameer's films is that I am always left with something to think about. I have been hearing about "Medusa" for sometime now but had not been able to learn much about it. Therefore I was super pleased when I had the chance to have a private look.

In the film we meet mythology professor, Jack Peruci (Jeff Allen) who has managed to get his hands on an antique mirror from a very shady witch doctor, Kao (played by director Jorge Ameer). What Peruci did not know was the mirror is haunted and he learns this by examining it closely when he gets it home. As he studies the mirror, he has several supernatural experiences and the more time that he spends with the mirror, the more involved he becomes with the strange forces behind it. Because of his field of study, he think he understands what is going on until it turns evil and he realizes that he might be in danger.

A dedicated mythology professor (Jeff Allen) finds an evil witch doctor (Jorge Ameer) that summons the spirit of the gorgon Medusa. The gorgon Medusa tries to take his soul and she does whatever possible to react that end. At this point in the film, the viewer must suspend disbelief and let him/herself go and just become part of the film. Since we live in a modern world, we sometimes have trouble believing in the supernatural but I can tell you this film is so convincing that I do not see how it is possible not to believe. It is Ameer's skill as a director that he uses to pull us into the action and it happens without our even realizing it.

Medusa uses her supernatural powers to gain Jack's soul and she wants it so badly that she goes as far as to manipulate Jack's surroundings and this causing chaos in his life and thereby hoping to be able to enter his world. He is to be, for her, a vessel of resurrection. She manages to affect Jack's dreams and turn them into nightmares and as they become stronger, Jack seeks help. He turns to his friend, Stephen Craig (Tom Stuckhoff), a psychologist whose field is hypnotherapy hoping that will help him to understand what is going on and to solve the mystery of Medusa. But things do not work out as he had hoped and when Craig examines him, he discovers that is Peruci's bloodline is what is causing the nightmares and this quite simply hurts his ability to fight what is happening since it is already a part of him.

Ameer gives us a contemporary Gothic thriller and he succeeds in not only winning our attention but also has us begin to believe what we see on the screen. Crafted with style, there is a darkness that is frightening, riveting and keeps us on the edge of your seats . After its world premiere at the Cannes Film on May 17, 2015.

Saw this on Tubi. Very 1970's feel. The look, the feel, the mood was all very vintage. Jeff Allen playing the professor was very convincing and you could not help but to empathize w the guy and his plight. Not the die hard horror kind of movie, i found it very different and refreshing. Recommended to those who like campy vintage horror films. Gather your friends and have fun with it!

If there's one thing that unifies almost all modern-day horror fans, it is their desire to see something fresh and original. Hollywood isn't giving us anything original, that's for damn sure. Every once in a while Hollywood will take a chance on something kind of original–like say, INSIDIOUS. INSIDIOUS has an estimated budget of $1.5 million. If this film failed, no big loss to the studio. But, as we all know, this film didn't fail and became a huge success and spawned two sequels (at the time of this writing). But Hollywood's take away from films like INSIDIOUS aren't that horror audiences want something new and risky, Hollywood just assumes, "Since audiences loved INSIDIOUS, let's crank out 57 more INSIDIOUS clones and ride this out until audiences stop watching them."

If horror fans want something truly original, they need to go to the indie horror scene. Of course not every film from the indie horror scene is original, but audiences are more likely to find originality there than in Tinseltown. Take, for example, MEDUSA. MEDUSA is written and directed by Jorge Ameer, and is his first foray into the horror/supernatural-thriller genres. But instead of making a tired old ghost story, slasher flick, or alien-runs-amok picture, Ameer went with something wholly original and based his story around the ancient Greek mythological creature of Medusa.

In MEDUSA, Jack (Jeff Allen), a professor of ancient mythology, tracks down a mirror that he believes is somehow connected to the myth of that crazy old gorgon, Medusa. He meets an evil witch doctor Kao (Jorge Ameer) who summons the ancient creature and then gives Jack the mirror. When he gets back home, Jack immediately begins to experience hallucinations, crazy dreams, and other odd things. With the help of his psychologist friend Steven (Tom Struckhoff) and his girlfriend Lana (Britt Rose), they unravel what's happening to Jack and then try and prevent Medusa from using Jack's body to re-enter our world.

There's a lot of things to like about MEDUSA. The story is, as hinted above, original with enough going on in it to keep you guessing. There are a lot of references to ancient mythology, and I like Ameer's approach to Medusa. We all know her as being the snake- haired broad who turns people to stone with just a glance, but Ameer focuses on Medusa as a seducer. It is interesting learning about Medusa and what her background is. It would have been easy for Ameer to just use Medusa as a snake-haired, turn-your-ass-to-stone villain, but instead he delves deeper into her mythology and comes up with something that was really unique and interesting.

One of MEDUSA's other strengthens is the way it is filmed. Ameer has a fantastic eye and the nightmare and dream sequences he films are stylish with hints of surrealism. From the way Jack's dreams are filmed, the audience gets to experience the same confusion and anxiety as Jack.

MEDUSA, though, isn't a perfect film (as few films are). Some of the acting is spotty and the character of Lana isn't that well written. Lana comes across as a love-sick puppy. If her character wasn't in the film at all, nothing in the story would have changed. There was one other character, Oren (Jon Jacobs), that really ruined the flow of the narrative for me. Oren comes in towards the end of the film and is another expert on Medusa and serves to give a final push to the narrative. The problem with this character is that his big scene felt as though it was completely ad-libbed. For example, when Oren is explaining Medusa's plan he says, "Medusa is going to try and enter into Jack's dreams. He is going to seduce her." Then he takes a pause and you can almost see the look on actor Jacobs' face as he corrects himself by immediately saying, "She is going to seduce him." In the same scene, Oren issues the warning, "There's nothing we can do," when talking about Jack's face. He immediately follows this by adding, "There's something you can do." Mistakes happen, but the errors by Oren's character in this pivotal scene really pulled me out of the moment and ruined what could have been a tense and suspenseful scene.

The good far outweighs the errors in MEDUSA, and this is a solid effort by Ameer. I loved the originality of the story and Ameer has a beautiful style. The dream sequences are surreal and nightmarish and shows that Ameer has some serious directing chops. Another go-around in the editing room and re-shooting Oren's scene towards the end would strengthen this film immensely, but as it is, MEDUSA is a fun film that delves into and brings a frightening mythological creature to life. This is definitely one to check out.

Creepy, clever, captivating and FUN! It's a roller coaster of a ride than kept me glued to my seat. Just the right amount of fright mixed with slight jabs of humor and an a fascinating take on the Medusa mythology. Reality and fantasy blended in the perfect mix provide a stirring cocktail of independent filmmaking genius. Ameer amazes as much as a director as he does as the witch doctor character in the first act. Jeff Allen is so perfectly cast as his character that the scenes revolve around his naturally gifted intensity and a fierce gaze. The real winner here is the audience member who is sucked into a terrific story with just the right amount of effects to compliment, not overtake, the actual story being told. I was drawn in and enjoyed every single frame of this dark, taunting, gripping tale of terror that made me want it to keep going on and on. Ever exceeding my expectations, I remain humbled at the awesome work that keeps coming from one of my favorite filmmakers who remains unafraid to push the boundaries of any genre!