Deep Swamp

This strange indie horror film from the makers of the (actually, also strange) Howard the Duck gives the impression of having been cobbled together from several different films. However, the plot's disjointedness and apparent underdevelopment somehow evokes the feeling of watching a nightmare come to life or a revived horror version of Edward Hopper's paintings, with alienated characters wandering aimlessly through the night's empty streets. The film is certainly not for everyone, but it contains some memorable, extremely well staged horror scenes that after watching will make you wonder why it has become so memorable yet so little known. The scene in the movie theatre, whose aisles gradually fill with zombies behind the back of one of the unsuspecting characters, is as impressive as the similarly constructed school scene in Hitchcock's The Birds, while the zombie scene in the mall beats out the famous Dawn of the Dead (even with its conception of the zombie film as a critique of American consumerism). Messiah of Evil is one of the most remarkable unknown horror films, with its original treatment of zombies that we don't realize are zombies for a long time, precisely staged horror scenes, and stunning widescreen Antonioni-like visuals. (29/03/2018)

The characters talk and behave in such an absurdly dramatic absence of logic that it must have been intentional. For sure, this strongly contributes to the dreamy atmosphere. As for the audiovisual experience, Messiah of Evil is on top of things (with a combination of very chilling music, colourful execution and peculiar editing). One regret: the plot is quite straightforward and without major surprises. Other than that, thumbs up. (13/04/2018)