Rating: 2.5/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2018 | 9/52 | Andy Milligan
Anna Graham carries flowers through Highgate Cemetery to her mother’s grave. The birds caw, the bell tolls — the cemetery is closing. Three blonde women with grayish skin greet Anna, pulling her in.
The doorbell rings, waking the sleeping Graham Ford. At the door is a Reverend Ford and his wife, Alicia. They claim to be distant relatives. Graham invites them in, and they plan for Graham and his wife, Anna, to come over for dinner. The reverend intends to reopen the All Saints Church, beside Carfax Abbey, after its 10-year slumber — a church about a block away from Highgate Cemetery. Speaking of which, Anna should have been back an hour ago. As the Reverend and Alicia exit, a disheveled Anna pours in. When her eyes meet the Reverend’s, she lets out a concerned gasp.
Emma Ford brushes her hair as the maid helps her dress. She hopes to see Mr. Willis, whom she wishes to marry. The doorbell rings. The maid answers to find a hunched-over teen with a box of flowers for Ms. Ford. The maid takes the flowers, closes the door, and turns around to see one of the gray (closer to green now) women. She beckons the maid and whispers something in her ear. The maid walks upstairs in a trance to deliver the flowers. Ms. Ford cuts her finger on one of the flowers before leaving. The maid grabs a shard of glass onto which Ms. Ford’s blood fell and calls for the other gray women.
Susan Ford goes to Carfax Abbey to meet with the Reverend. While waiting, she sees the same blonde boy who delivered the flowers rush by, cackling. The Reverend, Alicia, and Susan convene to discuss the Reverend’s familial relationship to her. And how The Reverend is reopening the church next door. They toast over Susan’s wine and the Reverend and Alicia’s “tomato juices.” Susan feels lightheaded and faints. The Reverend calls in Spool, the blonde boy, who carries Susan to a bedroom on the second floor.
Who are The Reverend and Alicia? What is their plan with their family members? With the church?
I have to say, I was pretty invested in the story. We meet a sprawling cast before anything happens in the movie, but some minor seeds of intrigue are peppered throughout.
The film has a sense of humor, but getting on its wavelength is difficult. Jokes seem to be things like the Reverend being a pompous know-it-all.
The filmmaking isn’t stunning, but it’s competently put together, especially considering the low budget with which they made this film. Cameras dolly, rooms are lit, and the pacing isn’t a total slog. Scenes run a little long and end at awkward junctures. Cuts between shots repeat parts of the previous cut with a different angle.
Deeply flawed, but admirable in it’s ambition, the film probably won’t wow anyone who isn’t horror-poisoned like me, but I found enough charm to keep me watching.
* Stray Thoughts*
- The Fords go back 21 centuries, all the way to BC times.
- “You’ve never liked night before — what’s gotten into you?”
- The actor who plays Graham keeps slipping into a British accent when talking to British characters.
- Yes, kill the impure Ford because you don’t have any use for it? How about diversifying your bloodline?
- Why did offering the Reverend cigarettes offend him so much? Oh, the mirror.
- Wow, this shit gets wild.