“Dead people don’t cry, Gregory.”
Conjuring the Cult, a new horror film from writer/director Calvin Morie McCarthy (Conjuring the Beyond), is both atmospheric and moody, settling into its story of heartbreak and loss with a demonic dowsing rod pointing the movie toward the Highway to Hell.
This is a low budget horror film which takes its time with the scares, amping up the suspense and the odd noises (in a robust sound design) as one brokenhearted man searches for life among the recent wreckage of his rather personal losses.
It’s also downright disturbing in the depths it goes to thanks to this man’s self-caused misery . . . or is it guilt?
As the narrative opens, it becomes clear that David (Neil Green) has had a rough year. His teenage daughter, Masha (Chynna Rae Shurts) has killed herself and his wife, Michelle (Elissa Dowling)has left him, believing the suicide to be his fault. Yes, it’s pretty traumatic but, honestly, there’s more to come in this shocking tale of being careful for what you wish for.
With nowhere to go, he turns to a help group but the support in this group is minimal at best. The sessions are taxing and, as it’s a whole lot of talking, the head therapist doesn’t seem all that interested in the people needing his support. It’s just more of the same.
That is until he meets a mysterious group of women (Michelle Colman, Allycea Weil, Naomi Mechem-Miller, and Marieka Prom) who offer him a chance to resurrect what’s been lost to him. Seriously. These witches aren’t messing around, not with the tortured spirit at the center of all this misery.
It’s not too long after this chance encounter that he starts to see his dead daughter around the house, lurking in the corners and, as he dives deeper into her story (because there’s a lot he doesn’t know about her), he discovers that even her best friends don’t know what it was that was troubling her.
Maybe these strange women can discover just what led to her downfall? Or is there something else at the root of all these troubled nights and restlessness?
And - SNAP - just like that, David finds himself sucked into a nightmare of ghoulish scares thanks to his involvement in bringing her back to life. Suddenly, the lifeforce he was once missing is right in front of him once again . . . but there’s something disturbing in her actions; something unhinged and it has everything to do with what David used to do to her . . .
. . . and it’s pretty disturbing.
Sometimes, we really should be careful in what we ask for. Consider yourself warned.
Conjuring the Cult will be debuting on digital on October 1st from Breaking Glass Pictures. It’s demented and deadly serious in its consequential ressurr-ACTION.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
Director: Calvin Morie McCarthy
Writer: Calvin Morie McCarthy
Cast: Jason Brooks; Elissa Dowling; Neil Green
Genre: Horror
Tagline: No Evil Deed Goes Undone.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor: Breaking Glass Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date: October 1, 2024 (digital)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: After discovering his blood-soaked daughter dead in the bathtub, David Bryson attends a self-help group to help save him from his ghostly nightmares. But when a group of mysterious cult-like women offer to help him resurrect his daughter. David's choices will not just decide his fate... but the fate of his dead daughter's SOUL.
