MP
Marco Pitzalis
•Gilman, a university student, finds lodging in a seedy boarding house. A neighbor warns him of the presence of a witch. The young man doesn't believe him. And he's wrong. What lurks behind those walls will forever change his existence. The good Stuart Gordon once again draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft (as with "Re-Animator" and "Dagon") telling the story of a university student (great performance by Ezra Godden, also the protagonist of "Dagon") dealing with a witch and a... rat with a human face, emissary of the old hag. If for the other episodes one can complain about the limitation (not insignificant) of the duration of an hour, with some gaps that left the viewer with some doubts, in this work the 60 minutes are perfectly functional for a sparse plot (but not for that banal). Stuart Gordon skillfully elaborates a simple story, taking advantage of the good performances of the main actors and the gloomy aura that surrounds the decrepit house within which the nightmares of our unfortunate protagonist come to life. This episode is not a political horror (such as "Homecoming") or "ecologist" (such as "Deer Woman"), nor is it satire. It's a little film that draws from pure horror, like the beautiful "Cigarette burns" by Carpenter, and in my opinion it succeeds fully. The pessimism that envelops the entire narration is the strong point of the episode: despite the fact that we feel sympathy for the unlucky student who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, we are aware that it will probably be difficult for him to get out of this mess... Gordon is good at handling the darkest moments, namely the protagonist's visions, alternating them with brief lighter moments. Another merit of the director is to develop a dark and dramatic ending that leaves a mark: the mark of the Recluse of Providence is more than evident. After the (splendid to say the least) hour spent in front of the screen, the non-superficial viewer cannot deny having been faced with a good (excellent in my opinion) horror story, a simple but rich in suggestion and terror story, pessimistic to the extreme, sad, melancholic, dramatic: a cast up to the task, a disturbing and suggestive setting, little splatter but well dosed, disturbing visions, all masterfully directed by a great director.