Director: Jon Keeyes
Writer: Jon Keeyes (Screenplay)
Starring: Matthew Tompkins, Arnold Vosloo, Michael Ironside, Arianne Martin, Damon Carney, Hayden Tweedie, Erin Marie Garrett
Plot: Haunted by the ritualistic killing of his best friend, a vice detective determined to discover the truth goes undercover into a forensic hospital and is plunged into his own personal Hell where demons might be real.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Twisty Turney Horror
Story: The Harrowing starts when detective Ryan Calhoun (Tompkins) sees his partner killer in an undercover operation, his next assignment doesn’t go well either when his team all die with one member of his team seeming almost demonic at the time. Filled with guilt Ryan searches for answers with Lt Logan (Ironside) refusing to accept any ideas from Ryan.
Ryan starts putting the pieces together which leads him to a mental home run by Dr Franklin Whitney (Vosloo) believing there is some form of demonic behavior coming out of the hospital, this only leads him to question his own sanity.
Thoughts on The Harrowing
Characters – Ryan Calhoun is a great detective, he goes undercover and always has one rule, never do an investigation alone, his last two cases lead to his team being killed after his own mistakes. Not accepting the answers given to him about the cases, he starts investigating after his own sanity starts t be questioned, leading him to a mental hospital where he must face his demons to figure out if they are real. Dr Franklin Whitney runs the hospital, he is doing his best to treat Ryan becoming able to push him to limits to not knowing what he is thinking in his own head. Lt Logan is the man that lets Ryan go undercover, he doesn’t get on with Ryan because of his previous mistakes, but does know it would be best for the case. Anne is the wife, that is becoming more distant from him after his latest action and decisions.
Performances – Matthew Tompkins in the leading role is good through the film, we believe that he is losing his mind through the film. Arnold Vosloo and Michael Ironside are both good for supporting roles showing their experience in their roles. the rest of the cast make the most of their time on front of the camera.
Story – The story follows a vice detective that wants to make up for his mistakes by going undercover once again to solve the mystery about a mental hospital’s involvement with the string of murders that could involve demons. This is one that heads in one direction before it turns everything on its head to surprise you and it is worth the wait to see just what the truth is and it will keep you questioning what you just saw too. The film does use the lighting to give us a surreal feel which adds to the mystery around the story.
Horror – The horror from this film is watching Ryan slowly lose his mind or figure out whether the demons are real.
Settings – The film does show us how the normal world crashes down before going to the mental home, which does feel overly normal for hospital over one people who could be dangerous stay in.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good and they do add to the film because it shows us just how surreal the moments Ryan is going through.
Scene of the Movie – The final act.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending (won’t go into details about it)
Final Thoughts – This is a surreal horror that shows one man slowly losing his mind as the film rolls on and asks the question just what is real.
Overall: Surreal feeling horror thriller.
Rating
