One of the perks of writing for SciFi Monkeys is the opportunity to screen new horror movies before the masses get a chance to see them. My editor knows me pretty well so he knows what sort of bone to throw my way to get me to write reviews. In this case, he only had to mutter two magic words…Doug Jones.
I have long been a fan of this amazing actor’s work, long before his stunning portrayal of the creature in the award-winning The Shape of Water. The fact that he was associated with this project gave me high hopes for the quality of what I was about to watch. So I waited until my non-horror fan Disney obsessed wife was busy elsewhere and sat down in a darkened room and started the Gehenna: Where Death Lives.
The movie features a group of resort developers checking out a property in tropical Saipan, during the course of looking around they discover an old entrance to a World War Two Japanese bunker. Of course, they decide to go down into it.
I mean, what could possibly go wrong right? Turns out, a hellish nightmare is what could go wrong.
I sighed a little at the cliché scene of hapless idiots going into such a situation. It is one of those scenes where we are all yelling at the screen and throwing popcorn.
The group soon encounters monsters enough, but what makes this stand out and rise above the cliché is that the monsters are mostly demons from each character’s past. The ghosts they are haunted by are all uniquely their own which makes the terror almost claustrophobically personal. We get to watch in slow motion intimate detail as their emotional states disintegrate right before our wide-open eyes. That being said, there are some awesome special effects monsters to be had as well.
Gehenna, despite my horror fanboy jadedness, got to me on a number of levels which is rare for me. The general level of creepy keeps getting wound up moment by moment in the film. Gehenna is not a perfect horror movie, it has its share of flaws. Amongst them are some murky plot points, an over-reliance on jump scares and a few assorted bits of less than stellar acting but it is one of the more interesting attempts I have had the pleasure to watch recently.
I give this ambitious debut by the co-writer, director, and producer Hirashi Kata Giri a solid four bananas on our scale and look forward to more offerings from him and his creative team.
Oh, and Doug Jones is awesome in his role in this which isn’t any kind of a spoiler to his fans.
Discover Gehenna: Where Death Lives for yourself at Amazon.
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