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....
I had no idea what this film was about, before I started watching it. Sometimes that's a good thing, because you come into it as the film maker intended, as the way people used to watch films. It's so hard to do that anymore, with Facebook and all the other social media platforms and movie review sites. That's one of the many reasons I love writing for The Creepercast. I receive an assignment and a film to watch. Usually one that hasn't been released yet, so I'm getting in before anyone else has had the chance to formulate an opinion on it. Case in point, 'Gehenna: Where Death Lives'. The first full length film by director and co-writer, Hiroshi Katagiri. While the film boasts the star power of Lance Hendrickson and Doug Jones, to be quite honest, they barely make an appearance. Which was a little disappointing, but what you soon find out is that the real star of this film is Eva Swan. She carried the film on her shoulders and made it look pretty effortless. Quite a feat for a fairly new star on the rise. The supporting cast are all decent in their rolls, but I found myself less interested in their fates than hers. Although, Sean Sprawling does an excellent job as Pepe. He has a full character arc and goes from being a bit in the background to downright frightening. I should also mention that the first time we meet the thin man in the bunker, I genuinely was creeped out. Not only by the special effects being utilized for the character, but the way he moved and his actions. It ends up being a major plot point, but at this point in the film, it set the tone for what to expect. Having no preconceived notions from jump street, I was curious if the somewhat rehashed plot line was going to just end up making this a throwaway piece of film. What ended up happening was that at the end of the day, it left me with something to think about. I actually continued to dwell on the final act of the film and had several questions that it kept raising. It also made me feel unsettled about the thought of how our characters ended up. That tells me that there is something here to enjoy for other horror film fans, but I only wish the overall story had grabbed me a bit more. An ending punching you in the face is important, but the build up to that final swing, needs to be just as strong. Otherwise, your opponent just ends up dazed, instead of knocked out on the floor wondering what in the hell just happened.
The story line focuses on five people who are investigating some land for a sale. It's a beautiful and scenic location and while they're scouting it out, they come across what they thought was a machine gun nest from the war. What they come across, when they arrive, is a strange man praying. After chasing him off, we learn more about a kind of curse in the area and (as the viewer) begin to question if it's such a good idea to go through the door to the unknown.... but, of course, they do or we wouldn't have much of a movie. It would be called 'Gehenna: Where Death Almost Lived'. As they enter, they quickly realize that this isn't a machine gun nest, but more of an underground bunker used by the Japanese. They slowly make their way through the run down relic from another time and soon come across the creepy man I mentioned earlier. After a slight altercation with him, an earthquake or bombing, knocks them all out. They wake up to everything having been changed or is it the same place still? The five of them start to search their new surroundings, only to find that they've been sealed in and the bunker now looks like it did years ago. Have then been transported back in time or is this some kind of game that is being played by an unknown force? One by one they begin to be haunted by sins from their past, while the world around them seems to be unraveling. How will they survive and what's truly going on in the bunker? That's as much as this reviewer will give you, as you'll need to venture down into the bunker yourself, to find out.
I'm a little torn on this one, Creeps. While on one hand, Eva Swan was quite good and sold the story line and the ending was one that left me questioning everything that came before. On the other, the majority of the other actors seemed to be reciting their lines rather than reacting to what was being said and I felt like the film was a bit by the numbers. I know what Hiroshi was going for, in this film, I'm just not sure that it came off the way it was intended. It was a bit jumbled up and felt like there was too much trying to be jammed into the limited run time. There is also the fact that the majority of the time I was watching the film, I was dissecting each moment and realizing that it seemed to be a few different story elements that were being woven together. It was kind of distracting. I would have preferred that they opted to go with one or two aspects of the story and made those stronger, than to throw in the third or fourth, which made the foundation a bit shaky. I should also mention the sound was off. Because I was watching this on my laptop, I was forced to use my headphones to listen to the film. Usually this immerses me in the story and sound cues, but this seemed to have a mix that was uneven. I'm not sure if I'm being hypercritical or not, but it was all over the place quite often. Two of the things I really enjoyed about this film was the special effects. From the old man in the beginning, to the punishing of Pepe, I was impressed by the quality that was achieved. Not too mention, that if CGI was used, it was hidden quite well. The other thing that was refreshing, is something I'll have to remain vague about. While Paulina (Eva Swan) was not the only female in the film, she took the trope of the “final girl” and put it on its head. That's all I'm going to say about that.
'Gehenna: Where Death Lives' is going to be a movie that divides its audience. There will be some who love it, some who hate it and some who ended up where I did and just kind of felt like it was decent. Not something to run home and tell all your friends about, but something that certainly wasn't a waste of anyone's time to watch. All in all, this was a mixed bag. I can't deny that the ending left me feeling like I wished the rest of the film was stronger, but that happens quite a bit in this line of work. When you see as many films as I do in a year, it's hard to impress me. I'm hoping that Hiroshi takes what he learned from the making of this film and applies it to his next project. As a first time feature length film, he is way ahead of the curve. He understands how to tell a story and just needs to learn how to streamline things to have a more cohesive final product. In this reviewers humble opinion, I'll give this 3 out of 5 stars. It's probably leaning more towards the 2 end of the spectrum, rather than the 4, but that's okay. Not every movie can be a major masterpiece. To be quite honest, I'm sure I could never accomplish what everyone involved in this film was able to do. Create something out of nothing and be able to entertain an audience. It's a lot safer to sit on your couch and critique the works of others, than it is to do the work yourself and I respect them all for that. Besides, you made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, when the old man charged the main characters, early on in the film. That's something that not everyone can say. P.S. I know the dead guy in the tub wasn't supposed to come off this way, but I swear he was from the cast of 'The Farting Dead'.
If you like this, check out: 'The Descent', 'As Above, So Below' and 'Silent Hill'
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