The Dark and The Wicked(2020)(Review)[Weirdo Wednesday]

This is a movie that was in my top 5 last year, but I’ve never dedicated an actual piece to it. When I decided to revisit it a few weeks ago, I knew I had to gush.

When a brother and sister return home to help their mother with their ailing father, dark and mysterious things happen throughout their farmhouse.

It’s a story you’ve certainly heard time and time again, and the truth is there’s nothing exactly new about it, but you shouldn’t dismiss it based off that alone. Director Bryan Bertino (The Strangers) is returning to horror with his bleak nihilism and a voice to be heard. The mother warns the kids not to be there and that they need to go home immediately. She says the devil has already taken over the house and is consuming their father’s soul – whose in a coma for the duration of the film.

This movie… is probably the scariest thing I’ve seen in a while. And what I mean by that is that half way through I was begging for it to be over. “Please… just please stop…”

I watched it during a dark depressing week recently, and this movie is entirely about suicidal thoughts, demons, and much much more. In short, it was the film I probably needed to see but didn’t want to see. It has an ending that makes you feel hopeless and miserable.

As I said before, it’s nothing new, but the energy of the film is absolutely oppressive. It feels evil in the most honest way I can describe it. While there’s some scares you may see coming, there’s twists that happen that you won’t see coming, and the soundscape and music score is fucking horrifying. Even scenes that play out in almost textbook fashion make you hold your breath in the specific way they are presented.

If you’re trying to find a scary ghost/demon story, please check this out. It has a strong personality among the run of recent farmhouse-demoncore stuff that’s been circulating, and it is arguably one of the best.
Don’t watch it alone. And if you do, don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s been haunting my thoughts for weeks.

4.5/5
“The Dark and The Wicked” is currently streaming on Shudder.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra