Sperm swimming toward an egg and the sounds of satanic incantations. From the opening shot, Gonzalo Calzada’s film, Luciferina, is unambiguously concerned with demonic possession and motherhood. That it sticks to its themes must be applauded — but in the actual experience of watching the movie there is less to applaud. Natalia’s (Sofía Del Tuffo,…
It’s a crime how rarely cinema objectively explores religion. While there remains plenty of lighthearted, faith-based fare tailored to specific churchgoing demographics, very rarely are audiences exposed to the challenging theological perspectives that lie buried underneath Lifetime-flavored fluff and grim, pessimistic horror clichés. Thankfully, in lieu of a fictionalized analysis, we have Deliver Us (Libera…
The Possession Experiment, centers around, as you might guess, a possession experiment. But don’t let the lack of creativity in the title sway you into thinking that the filmmakers have saved their imaginations for the rest of the movie. What you have here is a plot that’s both holy and wholly contrived, albeit with some…
Richard Vanuk (Daniel Falicki, “Devils in the Darkness”) is a guy who struggles. He’s struggling to pay his rent and keep his landlord’s thug son off his back. You could say he’s struggling to stay sober, but I think it’s more accurate to say he’s struggling to keep enough alcohol in the house to keep…
