Resurrection of Evil   Starring: Julie Benz, Fionnula Flanagan and Danielle Harris Distributor: Thunderbird Releasing RRP: £12.99 TRL383 Certificate: 18 Release Date: 16 October 2017

Every day Jackie Sullivan relives the nightmare of her alcoholism and that fateful day she drove resulting in an accident which killed her young daughter. Now, after successfully undergoing a rehabilitation scheme she is given an apartment in a turn-of-the-century gothic complex to help put her life back on track. Coincidentally, she is given the same room as a friend who seems to have gone missing without a trace. The house rules are she can stay as long as she likes, with the proviso she doesn’t go back to her old ways. But Havenhurst possesses its own secrets; so when other residents go missing after sounds of a struggle and terrified screaming, Jackie realises the only way to get to the bottom of these macabre events is to purposely fall off the bandwagon and fall foul of the mysterious landlady...

It’s no surprise that this film comes from the producers of the Saw franchise. We have what at first appears to be a supernatural mystery, but very quickly turns into a torture porn movie. In fact, the hidden doorways, covered pit areas, chutes and moving walls reminded me a little of the Stephen Laws book, Daemonic. The family connection to an older evil serves as no more than a standard contrived reason for an otherwise motiveless chain of events. I did like the figure which was always cleverly kept slightly out of focus – hence the original assumption of ghostly goings on. Another nice touch is the little girl who would seem to be the vulnerable character to be protected, but is as inquisitive as they come. The fact that the expression on her face doesn’t change for the entire movie could be interpreted as bad acting, but the denouement gives a reason for this which partly answers the question.

There are so many other plot strands lining-up in a failed attempt to be logical. Primarily, the attitude of the police in actually walking away like nothing has happened. They know that at least two women have gone missing from the building, one of which has just rang from there for emergency help. The investigating officer is given proof the dimensions of rooms are changing, and he’s called at least twice to the complex. It just doesn’t ring true. And all for a ‘press the reset button’ ending. This is not a bad film, per se. However, it’s a prime example of set pieces being considered more important than a believable plot.

5

Ty Power