Tonight’s October Challenge Review is the recently released independent horror film “Nefarious”. Directed by the combo of Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon and based on the novel “A Nefarious Plot” by Steve Deace. This isn’t a combo I would usually expect to entertain me as they’ve mostly done religious movies in the past, but I’d heard good things about this movie so wanted to check it out. The two leads for the movie are Sean Patrick Flanery and Jordan Belfi. Flannery is probably most famous for “The Boondock Saints” and was always a capable actor, though probably has more misses than hits to his name. Belfi meanwhile is mostly a TV actor, but a capable one. Its a solid choice of actors for an independent movie.
A Nefarious Plot.
The plot of the movie is relatively simple on the surface. The psychiatrist Dr. James Martin has been called in at the last minute to assess the mental state of prolific serial killer Edward Wayne Brady so that he can be executed (By the electric chair, something he requested himself). He is a last minute replacement since the previous psychiatrist committed suicide. Most of the rest of the story is the conversation between the two of them, with the occasional brief interlude. In that conversation Brady claims to be a demon, and begins a psychological battle with the psychiatrist in an attempt to get him to publish his book, a sort of demonic bible. The demon has been studying Martin ever since he was a boy and knows exactly what buttons to push and when.
During the interview and while Martin is still fully skeptical Brady/Nefariamus convinces him to invite the demon inside him to prove that he is lying. Nothing happens, at least not at that point. But from then on Brady/Nefariamus has the upper hand. He tells Martin he will commit three murders before he leaves. These murders are entirely subjective and part of the mind games. To cover any more of the plot would be spoilers though.
Interlude.
This is a movie that had great word of mouth from viewers, but has been slammed by politically partisan critics that effectively review bomb anything they even suspect of leaning right or being at all Christian. For example “Joker”, which I don’t personally consider right wing, but the critics did, not just suffered unfair review bombing from those critics, but also a media campaign to dissuade people from viewing in fear of supposed “Incel murder sprees” they claimed would take place in the cinema. Yes this is a thing that happened and it’s bizarre people still give those that manufactured that panic a pass.
In this case the critics seem to object to the Christian leanings in the film and yet the idea of complaining about such leanings in a film literally about demonic possession is the kind of absurdness that leads to… Well, the recent Exorcist film, that presents a demonic possession based on a very Christian demon and yet seems ashamed of the existence of Christianity. Bizarre. It used to be the scene in the Exorcist that offended people was when Regan masturbates with a crucifix. Now it’s saying “The power of Christ compels you”.
Yes it’s undeniable that it has Christian leanings especially considering Konzelman and Solomon’s previous output, but having seen the film it’s clear in this case the reviewers are not being objective. One of their complaints is that they think the demon is acting as the mouth piece for the directors views. It’s odd to complain about a character that is the embodiment of pure evil expressing opinions they don’t like. Maybe it’s a demon rights thing. Anyway, let’s get back to the review.
Two Men In Alone In A Room… Or Are They?
Considering this movie is almost entirely two men in a room talking, it is incredibly effective. A movie like that requires two strong actors and we have that here with Flannery and Belfi, both of whom put in a career best here. Flannery especially is remarkably good both as the demon and it’s victim. It also requires strong writing as it’s going to be very easy to pick at a film that is almost entirely dialogue. Not all the dialogue was completely convincing for me, but about three quarters of it worked well and that’s a pretty good ratio for a movie was so much of it. I have to give credit to Konzelman and Solomon. Of course I’ve not read the source material, so I don’t know how much is them and how much is from the novel.
In regards to the possession side of things, this feels to me in some ways a spiritual successor to the Denzel Washington movie “Fallen” from 1998. The demon can’t jump bodies as quickly as that one, but using it’s victims to commit horrible murders is pretty similar and the demon feels a lot like the one in that movie. The main difference of course is the smaller budget and scale. There’s only two scenes that come close to action here, so the style is different but the tone really reminds of that 90’s classic. While not unique, it is a rarer way to portray demonic possession. It’s nice to occasionally break away from the usual child possession stuff.
Letting Evil In.
There’s nothing really to talk about effects wise and there is very little music, though what is there is used effectively. Where there is music it is very subtle, slow and suspenseful. Mostly it is present in the scenes between the interviews. During the monologues it is mostly silent and that makes those scenes even more menacing. Despite being dialogue heavy, it’s actually a relatively fast paced movie with a lot of intensity. Even though I am agnostic and this does have an undeniable Christian slant, ideas such as the dangers of inviting evil into your life are universal to the human condition. Plus of course from a mythological/story point of view, the idea that evil may be winning the eternal war in always a great horror premise
Conclusion.
This one deserves a strong 7/10 and I think most people I think will find this compelling. The exception being if you are offended by the Christian slant. It probably would have benefited from toning that down a little (and it may have cost it a 7.5/10 from me). However, it’s definitely not required to be a believer to find this compelling. I mean, you don’t need to believe in vampires to enjoy Dracula do you? For me this is the best movies I’ve seen so far this October, but there are a few more days left, so we’ll see if it still has it’s crown by the 31st.
You must be logged in to post a comment.