One man cannot carry a movie, & nepotism is NOT a good thing...2/10 stars ⭐

 

One man cannot carry a movie, & nepotism is NOT a good thing...

2 out of 10 stars ⭐ Time to read: 2:11 min

BASIC PLOT: 

A corrupt sheriff (Joe Estevez) and his boys push around a parole officer (Randall Oliver) who's the sheriff's ex-son-in-law, a voodoo curse unleashes an ancient evil in the form of the Rugaru, and a general mayhem errupts.

WHAT WORKS: 

*RANDALL OLIVER IS DECENT AS "CLAUDE"…

…the parole officer and the lead character, but he CANNOT carry the whole movie! However, Tony Severio, the writer/director sure does ask him to, by subjecting him to unbelievable plotlines, bad actors, and lagging sections of movie, where nothing much happens.

Randall Oliver tries to carry the whole movie

*THE ACCENTS ARE MOSTLY OK 

One of my major gripes in movies is when they don't get the accents right, but in this movie, they aren't bad. I lived in Louisiana for a lot of years, and these accents are passable for a movie made on the cheap.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

*THE ACTING IS TERRIBLE

Nepotism is BAD mm, kay? If you are Tony Severio, the writer and director, DON'T cast you brother (Christopher Severio) in a major role WHEN HE CAN'T ACT!! Every scene he is in is ruined! He constantly throws the viewer out of their suspension of disbelief, and with this type of movie, you desperately need to believe what's going on, and Christopher Severio's acting just won't let that happen.

Christopher Severio's casting ruins the movie

Tony Severio's (writer/director) most aggregious act is making Oliver (who is desperately trying to carry this movie alone) act next to Christopher Severio, who plays "Blake", one of "Claude's" reprobate parolees (who also gets attacked by the Rugaru & survives).

Randall Oliver's talent is crushed
by Christopher Severio's lack of talent

*THEY KEEP CALLING THE VOODOO QUEEN "OLD" 

I think there must have been a change in casting, because they keep calling the Voodoo Queen, "Old Woman," but she's clearly not old. If the casting was adjusted, the script should have been adjusted as well. 

She's clearly NOT an  "old woman" 

*THE RUGARU ISN'T SCARY…

I know this is low budget, but there are ways to hide substandard makeup. I've heard Vee Neil speak repeatedly about lighting and framing as ways to hide bad special effects makeup. But here, they shoot it in full sunlight, and the result is lackluster and laughable (not in a good campy way).

The Rugaru isn't scary!

*THE ENDING IS RUINED BY REPETITION 

You know what Stephen King says, "Hell is repetition..." and the end of this movie is completely destroyed by it. You DO NOT need 4 adversaries, 3 that are exactly the same, coming at Claude. It's stupid, it's boring and it adds NOTHING! No suspense, no jump scares, nothing! It just screws up the pacing, when things should be moving along.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: 

I don't know how this got a 5+ rating, unless the 57 people who rated it -all worked on the film. I love B, C & even D horror movies, but this is NOT scary, NOT bloody, and NOT campy, there also no nudity or titillation, which doesn't leave much for the viewer. If writer/director Tony Severio had not cast his brother, and had fixed the ending, my rating would be higher.

CLOSING NOTES: 

*THIS IS A VERY LOW BUDGET MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. Microbudget movies have much less to work with, and so you expectations should be adjusted. 

*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.