I think I need to dedicate my opening paragraph to the English language, because through learning the English language (which I have apparently neglected to do) Infernal takes on a new meaning completely. Originally I thought infernal was the same as infertile, meaning unable to produce offspring. Turns out infernal means of, relating to, or a characteristic of Hell or the underworld. In hindsight, I’m glad my misinterpretation of the title happened because it made way for a couple of surprises during my viewing of this movie.
Infernal is written and directed by Bryan Coyne. Coyne was a producer on the 2013 horror-thriller The Human Race and is also the writer and director of upcoming killer spider flick Utero, so he’s definitely one to watch out for! Infernal stars Andy Ostroff (“It’s A Wrap”), Heather Adair, Alyssa Koerner, Jose Rosete (“The Unjust”), Noelle Bruno and Chris Baer.
Other cast members include Elizabeth Stahl, Leandra Ryan, Lisagaye Tomlinson, John Zion and Sara Winter in a story that follows, “A happy young couple who welcomes their first child shortly after getting married. Their joy quickly turns to fear when the girl starts acting strangely and unexplained phenomena start happening around the house. The girl’s parents start to wonder if they can break their child free from the evil spirit that has taken over her body and soul and if she can be saved before it’s too late.”
My first thoughts as I started my viewing were, “Crap. This is a found footage feature! Another one? God damnit!” At this point I am sick to death of found footage films in the horror genre and I so desperately want the return to good old fashioned narratives! I’m happy to report, though, that Infernal is actually one of the more professional found footage features I’ve seen recently. Even better, most of the time the camera is stationary and it also bounces back and forth between found footage and narrative at times. I think what really sets this title apart from the rest of the movies in its category is the high production quality. Infernal is really on par with Paranormal Activity and other supernatural greats in terms of awesome cinematography and a production crew who knew what they were doing.
I think Infernal‘s greatest strength will be the on screen chemistry between the two parents, Sophia (Heather Adair) and Nathan (Andy Ostroff). I think they were so believable in their roles here and it’s a great accomplishment for them as actors. From the moment they first appeared on screen, a pregnancy announcement interrupted by an earthquake, I truly believed that their relationship was real. Even as the supernatural forces in the house grew stronger and situations became more stressful, you could still see a love for each other in their eyes. Sure they fought, but they never stopped loving one another and Adair and Ostroff showed that perfectly. It was very impressive to see two actors and a script make something that looked so realistic. This makes one of the ending scenes all the more heartbreaking in spite of it all.
Speaking of the script, it was very well thought out. It had a little extra effort that you don’t normally see in found footage features or in supernatural movies in general. I thoroughly enjoyed the dialogue that verged on vain, sarcastic and humorous at times. I thought it was smart that Bryan Coyne first tried to get the little girl diagnosed with a disability or mental disorder before just saying, “She’s possessed! It’s spirits and demons!” And, Coyne handled the idea of Imogene’s (Koerner) autism in a very respectful manner. Going back to my previous paragraph, the first thirty five minutes of the movie were slow, but were also very good representation of how two parents who love each other deal with a difficult child. Finally, my favorite part of the script, which happened near the end, was the reveal that the demonic forces attacking the family and their friends were of a Greek origin. It added an extra layer of character development to characters who don’t speak.
What I think will hinder Infernal the most is actually the supernatural and demonic presence in the house. I loved the idea of not being able to see the main villain (that’s a clue for people who haven’t seen it yet!) because when any movie shows the bad guy, they’re usually not quite what you expected. In this case, the demon’s face is the scariest part of him. I mean, if you woke up in the middle of the night with that thing staring at you, you’d freak the fuck out! The rest of the demon’s appearance…ah, not so much. It looked like the Gnarl demon from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”And don’t get me started on the omniscient laughing this thing does. It stuck out as a lackluster element in a movie that’s a fairly good production. Had the demon maybe yelled instead of laughed and stayed hidden until the very end, I probably could have rated this movie a little higher.
Still, Infernal was a pleasant viewing. I enjoyed the acting and the cinematography. I loved the inventive and well thought out script from Brian Coyne. Again, the little extra effort he put into the movie shows. And I got the biggest kick out of the fact that the little girl is named Imogene because there was this lady at church with the same name that I always thought was evil… Anyway, yeah a really solid flick only slightly hindered by the creature creation department. Sorry, guys! FINAL SCORE: 7 out of 10
