Exorcism In Utero – Review
Not Rated
Written and Directed by Erik Skybak
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio if we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Herma Frigg, a pregnant woman running from a bad relationship, becomes possessed when she puts on a magical ring she discovers in the basement of the house where she is house sitting. Haunted by stranger dreams, she sleepwalks next door to visit Peter O’Neill, the pre-teen horror movie buff living next door in her sleep. As Herma’s body transforms and her mind deteriorates and Peter deals with family drama, these visits lead to an unusual bond between the two. But can Peter find a way to help Herma find a way out of her predicament and save her unborn baby?
A family with a secret. A nosy neighbor kid who watches too many horror movies. A house sitter with a secret of her own.
Nice bones, don’tcha think?
When Peter (nosy horror boy) thinks he sees his ultra-religious neighbors, the Johnsons, do something to a young woman in their basement, his family doesn’t believe him.
But when Herma comes to house sit for the Johnsons as they travel to the Bahamas to do missionary work (what?), she breaks the one rule they asked her to follow (of course she did–that rule was BAIT!): she goes into the basement.
She finds what she interprets as a kinky sex dungeon, as most ultra-religious folks have in their basements. When she sees a ring, she tries it on and immediately… well, weird stuff starts to happen.
Oh, and the “in utero” bit? Yeah, Herma is pregnant, and rapidly develops from 4-6 weeks to full-on pregnancy, while her skin begins to change and she has visions.
Only Peter, into whose room Herma has been sneaking to play with at night like a mother with a child (which is just weird, right?), knows what is going on, and no one believes him.
Throw a random young priest into the mix and it gets weirder.
This one might have been really fun if it had focused on more than the aesthetics of what was going on with Herma (which looks cool, don’t get me wrong). If we’ve have been given more of a sense of what had previously happened in the basement it may have added a level of creeping dread to the proceedings, but as, like the priest, we’re just thrown into the mix without any real background to latch onto.
The real bright spot here is Peter, whose obsession with horror movies equips him to deal with what’s happening, even if no one else in his family believes him until it’s too late.
The tone gets a bit muddy at the end, with more overt comedy aspects creeping into the story, which it doesn’t need in light of everything else.
All that said, Exorcism in Utero is an interesting idea with a couple of interesting characters worth checking out if you have a chance and an inclination towards these kinds of films.
Exorcism In Utero is currently available to stream digitally and stars Sam Bangs, Leonard Hoge , Steve Larkin, Stephanie Leet, and Calvin Morie McCarthy.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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