I had never heard of Desecrated until it popped up in the list of movies at my local Redbox. What the Hell, I thought, why not? The option was available to buy the movie instead of rent it, for only five bucks, and it was distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment, a company that really made waves in 2015. So, I took a gamble and purchased it. Here’s my thoughts now having viewed it in full.
Desecrated is written by Cecil Chambers and directed by Rob Garcia. Cast members include Haylie Duff (“7th Heaven,” “Joan of Arcadia”), Gib Gerard, Paul James (“Greek,” “Torchwood”), Heather Sossamon (“Days of Our Lives”), Gonzalo Menendez (“Breaking Bad,” “Zoo”), Michael Ironside (Lake Placid 3, Starship Troopers), Wilmer Calderon (“24,” “Agents of Shield”) and Adam Daniels.
A rich heiress (Duff) and her friends head upstate for a weekend of fun at her isolated ranch house in the middle of no man’s land, without her father’s permission to be there. The vacation turns to a mystery when they find strange objects in an abandoned trailer and matters become more bizarre when the caretaker, Ben, keeps showing up uninvited. They soon discover that Ben has a terrifying past and he isn’t to keen on intruders, but what happens when he no longer can establish friend from foe?
I kind of got what I paid for here. Desecrated was an all-right movie. I don’t think I’d ever watch it again, but the five dollar price was worth the once over and the ability to add it to my DVD collection. I can’t really give it any criticisms in terms of promotion and pretending to be something it’s not, because I’d literally never heard of this title until my spree purchase. But, there’s two things I think you should know if you were ever considering buying this movie.
First, despite its plot description, Desecrated does not follow the traditional, stereotypical “kids go in the woods, kids get killed” formula. The isolated ranch house is actually located at the back of a dead end, with a few neighbors close enough to hear explosions or gunfire (which is a spoiler). It’s fully equipped with electricity and all creature comforts and is quite modern – basically, it’s not an old cabin in the woods. The group of friends also have mopeds, flashlights and a lot of other key items that make them more capable of surviving as they’re not stranded without tools to survive. The only thing that’s a threat to them, besides Ben, is their own lack of self awareness and lack of intuition. Had the characters been more than a bunch of spoiled brats, they probably could have put up a much better fight against the killer. Do not purchase Desecrated if you’re expecting something along the lines of Friday the 13th or any other camping movie. This is not one of those.
Secondly, it’s hard to classify Desecrated as a straight up horror film because all of the kills are executed with modern machinery. There’s no butchers’ knives, axes or machetes used to dispatch a group of twenty-something year olds here. All of the kills are performed with gun, fists or landmines (yes, landmines). Ben is a war veteran and I can’t help but feel a little sorry and sympathetic for him. Not only does he return home from war with PTSD, but he also returns home to find his wife and young daughter raped and murdered in the woods. I would probably go a little crazy too. Ben uses all of his military training to hunt down his victims in the woods; he’s strategical and maniacal. This leads to a few suspenseful moments, chase scenes and blood splatters, but nothing I would consider out and about horror. I think Desecrated would be better described as a dark action-thriller with horror elements tossed in on the side.
It’s got a great cast. It’s got great cinematography. It’s got a lot of blood. It does, however, have a few glaring editing errors, so I have to take points away for that. The only real problem here is that Desecrated is nothing new. Again, it’s not bad at all, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it again. That means I’m going to rate it right down the middle! FINAL RATING: 5 out of 10.
