Article #241511

Mico Montes’s perplexing horror portmanteau relies more on atmosphere than its actors for effect

Writer-director Mico Montes’s debut feature is a workably creepy, fitfully absorbing horror effort that centres around a group therapy session run by squeaky-voiced shrink Dr Hedonia (Rachel Alig). One would think at least one of the good doctor’s patients would have wondered how their therapist came to have a surname that means pleasure in Greek, and why this might be. Sadly, none of these hapless souls, all of whom are seeking help for trauma, seem to have even a cursory acquaintance with classical languages.

That said, most of them do seem prone to a florid monologue style as they describe what’s brought them to the room. Lenny (Torrey B Lawrence), for instance, while talking about the fire that destroyed his house and all his possessions, waxes lyrical in the most violently violet prose style, incanting about “the night’s breach” how he was “perplexed by taunting thoughts” and so on. Does anyone actually talk like this?