I had high hopes for this movie, in fact I actually went into it by not knowing much, as some thought I was becoming too cynical about the genre, I personally didn’t think so therefore, I knew limited details, mainly it was a cross blend of two subgenres Religious-Horror and Haunted Houses. In addition, which would deploy usage of the Sigil of Baphomet, Hebrew letters of spelling out Leviathan and incorporating some form of the Devil, namely the bestial-human representation in more physical display rather than mere pictures. I also arranged for a cross-section of friends to view it with, from those who are fearful of their shadows to religious horror experts, needless it was and is a letdown, a lot of yawning does occur, from viewers. Brendan Muldowney director and wrote the screenplay, which is based on its creepier short film The Ten Steps [2004], while I often try to avoid spoilers that will be near impossible since the plot summary of the Blu-ray and IMDb summary pages note much of the spoilers one doesn’t have worry about what I reveal.

I suppose before diving into the main story a little background is required to cover some the religious aspects, as the ‘Sigil’ acts like a major portion of subtext in the film; most are aware of the symbol having seen it in other films, but it originates from Anton LaVey who founded the actual Church of Satan in 1966, although sects and chapters did exist well before this date. The other symbol is “Sabbatic Goat” image drawn by Eliphas Levi dates back to 1856, is often associated with the Baphomet.

The story opens with a mother and daughter, Elisha Cuthbert (House of Wax [2005]) as Kiera Woods and Ellie (Abby Fitz) aren’t getting along, yes the daughter is a teenager and moody, but something is going-on, as they recently moved into a new home, well sort-of, more on that soon. Ellie earlier in the day had inadvertently got herself locked in the cellar and had a panic attack as an unseen force climbed the stairs, which portrayed more through music, but before ‘it’ got her, her parents unlocked the door. Kiera and her husband Brian (Eoin Macken) are at some late business meeting and Ellie is supposedly babysitting her younger brother Steven (Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady), who scared her while donning an animal skull of some sort and his own robe cloak (we never informed about the reason for them). He tells of a closet-room he found in his playroom, and a phonograph when hand cranked plays a mathematical formula being spoken aloud which awakens the evil, can anyone say The Evil Dead [1981]. That night, clearly from a foreshadowing, and cliché moment, the force escapes from the cellar and feeding off of energy lights, and television, with strong breezes, which one determined later as powerful breaths. A call to her parents sends her to the cellar and a fuse box, her mother working through a panic attack has her count the steps and tell her there’s “ten steps to the bottom” but Ellie never stops counting as she descends further, prompting parents to hurry home. A hard cut to the next day and the police search the grounds for her and nothing she’s vanished, no forensic team as it appears as a runaway. At this point in other films, we get the revelation of details on the family, issues, the home but nothing happens here. Kiera puts up missing person flyers, but Brian returns to work, and she returns to her bedroom to sleep, in no rational manner does any parent do this, they act irrational searching for clues sleeping in their child’s bed. Herein the family dynamics are all of disinterest, except the force is now after the son, show to viewers through the manipulation of counting hypnotic tone using an abacus (likely some are aware of it, or how it works). Kiera slowly begins an investigation, finding out she was being bullied at school as her parents were unaware of her social media, she finds the Hebrew letters and symbols and even the strange formula in the cellar we heard on the record. Then she finds a series of painted red screaming faces only visible through a blacklight, calling in the police and from there nearly halfway through the film we learn the backstory of how they acquired the house, fully furnished sight unseen at an auction with no other info of previous owners that comes from the officer. In addition, the films try to pay homage to The Changeling [1980] by accidentally having Keira kicking a green ball down the cellar stairs only to having later bouncing down stairs on other floor, neither parent freaks they simply turn and face each other. I understand Brian not reacting as he never witnessed the first time but why doesn’t Keira – who knows or cares. We to begin to learn about that owner, a very odd professor of math, John Fetherson, who was obsessed with opening another dimensional doorway, or in this manner a one of the seven gateways to Hell. He combines the alchemy of the 12th-century to advancement of mathematics to create this equation, which made most his family vanish without a trace. There’re scenic elements of Ireland, and in the ariel drones shots that remind one of The Shining [1980] even to hints of Rites of Spring incorporated into the music, the final act has one recalling Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond [1981].

Often in these movies there a few different options on the cliché scorecard to choose from information from an elder person at a remote place, a religious figurehead, a doctor of sorts, some level of research. Well this film hasn’t done anything different except allow the viewer to have a drinking game with all the clichés used we have the playing of ancient incantations, a family without strong loving bonds, old house with mysterious secrets, research on a computer, elderly woman hiding in a church for protection from Leviathan and then enter a genius professor who deals with theoretic math-problems; oh and a stairs to hell. There’s likely a few more but you get the point it’s one thing on a top of the other that leads to despair not just for the characters but the viewers who ache for the ending or just escapism from the dread. The actors try to hide the Irish accents, though unsure why, there’s nothing in the story to warrant that action. As for Kiera, she becomes the sole one to carry the storyline what little there is, never really appears to have the desperation to find her daughter lacking all that depth of emotion, we’ve all seen stories and dramas of mothers losing their children, the constant sobbing, the resistance to accept their gone to even sleeping in that child’s bedroom; hell Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street [1984] got a streak of gray hair from dreams, however Kiera looks very basic, nothing frantic in her life. Regardless of what type of horror film it is, we all want to meet the monster, our price for admission, and herein we are given images, of Baphomet aka Leviathan but sadly we never get that big spoiler. Aside from the heavy sounded hooves on the concrete steps and then wooden floors creaking under his weight, but a brief glimpse of horns and a hairy hand-claw it remains hidden; perhaps cutting back on the VFX and going with some practical effects and one big reveal of a full standing Devil creature would of impact on the screen very well.

A few aspects to consider first the production of the film is very good no audio problems the sound quality and standard requirements are all checked in the positive, and the filmmakers included a slew of extras on the disc, among those  the original short film The Ten Steps with optional commentary, The Cellar VFX before and after (which is something a tad different), interviews with cast and crew and finally a sometimes dullish commentary from the director and producer. Therefore, if you seek a film without any screams of terror, lacking emotional family dynamics and depth of character, without any blood loaded with cliches and of horror movies references, then with yawn-fest from RLJE Films and Shudder is what you need, otherwise stick with the champions of this subgenre The Omen [1976] and the Exorcist [1973], though for good measure a creepy gateway to hell movie is The Sentinel [1977].

TAGLINE:

• An ancient evil has awoken.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14550642/

IMDb Rating: 5.2/10

Baron’s Rating: 4.0/10