As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....
As the year is slowly crawling to a finish, I've been re-visiting my contenders for the 'Top 13 Horror Films of 2017'. Realizing that there are still a whole lot of films left for me to watch, before January 1st, I've been lurking on other sites and seeing what other critics early front runners are. One film that seems to continually be on every single list I find, is 'The Blackcoat's Daughter'. Having some free time on Sunday and letting my curiosity get the best of me, I watched it. Before I get into the details of the film and what my thoughts were on it, I have to confess, that throughout about 75% of the film, I was wondering what in the hell was going on? If I'm watching a David Lynch film, it's to be expected. However, if I'm watching something by another director, I don't have that expectation. This was also not the good kind of confusion. This was more of the 'I wish I knew what was going on' kind of confusion.
From what I could make out about the plot, the film tells the story of a college type school, where 2 girls are stuck over a break. Meanwhile, in a peripheral story line, another girl is traveling across country to the same school. Strange things seem to be afoot, as one of the girls begins to exhibit some bizarre behavior. She starts to become more mean spirited and eventually ends up in the basement, having some kind of weird convulsions in front of the furnace. More strange things happen, as the girl becomes more unhinged. At the same time, the traveling girl is being given a ride by a nice couple headed in the same direction as her. Back at the college type school, the weird girl kills 2 caretakers and then kills the other girl stuck at the school. She beheads them and places there severed heads in front of the furnace. She's then shot by a police officer and taken into custody at a hospital. A priest comes and realizes she's possessed by the 'devil'. He gets the 'devil' out of her and it takes up living in the traveling girl. She then beheads the friendly couple and takes their heads to the furnace. That's basically the end.
A lot of minor events happen within the be-headings, but most of them seem to be plot devices to keep the story moving forward. There's also a shadowy 'devil' kind of thing, that looks like Frank the rabbit (from 'Donnie Darko') and a Muppet, had a baby. This movie has a very simple plot and is quite the slow burn. The problem isn't either of those things. The problem is that the viewer just doesn't care about any of the protagonists or antagonists, as well as the minimal plot. This film has no real purpose or direction. Granted, it's pretty to look at and give everyone involved, credit for putting forth a good effort. I just don't understand all the praise that's being given to 'The Blackcoat's Daughter'. It's as if they took all the pieces from 'The House of the Devil', 'Rosemary's Baby', 'The Exorcist' and 'Dead Poets Society' and put it in a blender. The result isn't a delicious mash up of the source material, but rather a muddied mess of a movie.
I can't recommend that you watch this film, but I also wouldn't tell you not too. Obviously, a lot of other critics out there, are seeing something I'm not. The funny thing is, I love simple stories. I dig the idea behind this film. The actors are on point with their craft and the mood is very well set. In the end, however, it just doesn't work. I'd give this a 2 out of 5 star rating. This is something I never need to see again. Sadly, it's not like 'The Babadook', which I initially disliked, but eventually came to realize that I was missing the point of the film. This movie doesn't have a point. It just.... is. 'The Blackcoat's Daughter' will not be making my 'Top 13 Horror Films of 2017'. Instead, I'm going to quietly walk away from the whole experience, wondering what in the hell I just watched?
If you'd like to see (what I feel) was the source material for this film, check out: 'The House of the Devil', 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Exorcist'
No comments:
Post a Comment