Holy Ghost People (2013) Directed by Mitchell Altieri

Again, here we have a movie that may seem and sound like a horror movie but in fact is something totally different. Or well, is it truly? Movies about religious zealots are pretty scary ones in my opinion, since they show a dangerous side of the human psyche.

I don't even really know why myself but i genuinely 'liked' watching this movie. Perhaps it's because of its dark and eerie subject of an enclosed religious community, that lives under the control of their religious leader Brother Billy. Since otherwise, the story really doesn't have an awful lot to offer. It tries to explore some more mystery and to go deeper into the psyche of its two main characters but the movie is lacking focus and a strong enough main plot line for it to ever truly work out.

There's a very constant ominous atmosphere all throughout, which adds to both the suspense and mystery of the movie. Even while there isn't always an awful lot happening, it still does feel like a good and strong enough movie, due to its very effective atmosphere. In a way it actually reminded me of "The Wicker Man", with some of its themes and atmosphere.

At the same time I still have to admit though that the movie also does feel quite messy and is somewhat hard to follow at times. It pretty much is a very straightforward movie for its first half but after that, it starts going into all sorts of directions and the movie itself seems to be unsure about what it's trying to say and achieve with its story.

The acting on the other hand is pretty solid, all throughout. The casting is good and all of the actors truly committed themselves to their roles.

This movie wasn't exactly on my radar and I'm not the world's biggest fan of the 'Butcher Brothers' (the director and writers of this movie) but this movie simply was a good one to watch and I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere and its overall effectiveness, despite the fact that this remains a far from perfect movie.

7/10

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