Shudder Saturday: Abraham's Boys (2025)

I have liked some of the previous directorial work of Natasha Kermani. I have also liked a lot of the writing of Joe Hill (including his collection, 20th Century Ghosts, that contains this story, although I cannot say that I remember it). Titus Welliver being in a main role will also get me to watch something. Which makes it all the more frustrating that Abraham's Boys was such a disappointing work. There's an interesting idea somewhere in the middle of it, but Kermani isn't able to explore it in the best way.

Welliver plays the Abraham of the title, and he's one Mr. Van Helsing. He's now married to Mina (Jocelin Donahue). They have two sons, named Max (Brady Hepner) and Rudy (Judah Mackey). Things might be good for them, but the work of a Van Helsing is never done, which is something the sons need to learn as they start to worry about their parents.

Here are the things I liked about Abraham's Boys. The performances from Welliver, Donahue, Hepner, Mackey, Aurora Perrineau, and Jonathan Howard (playing Arthur Holmwood). That is all. Okay, maybe I enjoyed some of the last scenes, but not half as much as I expected to. The strength of this film lies in the performances, and I think it would be very interesting to see this adapted into a one-man show, with someone as capable as Welliver carrying the entire thing on his shoulders.

That doesn't mean that I disliked everything else here. I just didn't find anything else very interesting or impressive. The visual style throughout is sparse and quite dull. I get that it is aiming to reflect the rudimentary way of life apparently preferred by the main patriarch, but it doesn't do anything to improve the weak and disappointing screenplay. Kermani seems to have too much faith in the central idea, but it's only good enough if used as a starting point for an actual journey. There's no journey here. In fact, it feels as if it spends 89 minutes going absolutely nowhere.

The strangest thing about this is that I can't see why Kermani was drawn to it. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe she viewed it as an interesting challenge, but was subsequently undone by it. Or maybe she just wanted to try something different. It's hard to see see any connecting threads between this and her previous two features though (note: I've not seen Shattered, the 2017 film she directed), and I would argue that she clearly works better when it's a screenplay with more of an overt female view of certain subject matter. Whether or not any of my theorising is correct, I can at least opt to blame Joe Hill for this. That way I can still look forward to whatever Kermani decides to do next.

3/10

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Noirvember: The Last Stop In Yuma County (2024)

A man walking into a diner has been the starting point for many a thriller/neo-noir, and that's pretty much the case here. Viewers should recognise Jim Cummings as the main character, a knife salesman, and they should be ready to see how the plot revolves around him when pieces start falling into place. That's if he survives beyond the opening scenes, of course. Bad things happen to good people in the world of noir, and good people aren't always as good as they seem.

Cummings plays one part here, but there are many other characters onscreen alongside him. Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) works in the diner. Vernon (Faizon Love) works at the nearby gas station and motel, but he cannot refuel any vehicles until the delivery arrives to replenish the empty pumps. Travis (Nicholas Logan) and Beau (Richard Brake) are a couple of patrons who seem like wrong 'uns, and not just because one of them is played by Brake. They've robbed a bank, which makes it very unlucky for everyone else that they cannot just get their car tank filled up enough to make a getaway.

This is the feature debut from writer-director Francis Galluppi, who has been honing his craft in a number of shorts and music videos helmed over the past seven years (including two early works that, from the plot summaries I read, seem to contain kernels of ideas more fully developed here). Whether it comes to fruition or not, Galluppi is currently tapped to direct one of the upcoming Evil Dead projects, which perhaps gives you an idea of the skillset he displays.

Galluppi puts everything together well, but his biggest strength is arguably self-control that stops him from having to fill every space. The 90-minute runtime is perfect for the fairly tight scenario we see playing out. Dialogue is sharp and loaded with pertinent information, but there are also moments of quiet tension that say just as much via the visuals.

It also helps that the cast are uniformly fantastic. Cummings is a great choice for his role, bringing the slight nerviness that he has done so well in a number of previous movies (including his own directorial outings), and Donahue is someone you hope to see beat the odds when it comes to surviving a snowballing situation like this one. Logan and Brake are believable, the latter particularly so (it's his gift), and Love excels in his small supporting role, as do Gene Jones, Ryan Masson, Sierra McCormick, Jon Proudstar, Michael Abbott Jr. (as the local Sheriff), and Connor Paolo (a deputy). Horror genre fans will also appreciate cameos from Barbara Crampton and Alex Essoe.

There are a couple of well-chosen songs on the soundtrack to complement what I am going to loosely refer to as set-pieces, things weave left and right on the way to a final act that eventually becomes as apparently inevitable as it is satisfying, and the whole thing is so well-constructed and entertaining that it marks Galluppi out as a hell of a talent to keep an eye on.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Offseason (2021)

Writer-director Mickey Keating has been delivering interesting horror fare to viewers for just over a decade now. The fact that I have only seen one of his other films so far (the enjoyable Pod) is a reflection of my own tardiness, and not any kind of verdict on Keating's work. And having enjoyed Offseason even more than Pod, I really need to get through more of his filmography.

What you have here is the tale of someone tying up some affairs after the death of their mother. Marie (Jocelin Donahue) and her partner, George (Joe Swanberg), have to travel to a small island town, fulfilling some last wishes that make no sense to Marie. Her mother, Ava (Melora Walters), had often spoken of the place in a way that made clear she never wanted to go back there, and Marie soon starts to see her point of view, with the town being a strange and cold place. Is it her state of mind, or is there something wrong with the place?

This is, in a lot of ways, what you expect it to be. It's a low-budget horror movie that prioritises the cast and quieter interactions ahead of any big scares. Keating does himself a big favour with his casting, but he also paces things nicely, building atmosphere and a sense of dread in between moments that deliver some enjoyably unexpected scares (or spooky strangeness). Although he obviously doesn't have the resources that other film-makers might have available to them, Keating does his best to ensure that everything looks and sounds as it should. The visual style may be a bit flat, but that is easy to forgive when you realise that Keating has held back in a way that allows some third act moments to make a much stronger impact.

Donahue is an excellent lead, someone that viewers can easily stay alongside and root for, and Swanberg gives another good performance in the kind of supporting role he seems to be so good with. Walters has to be a bit more on edge and strained than most of the other people onscreen, but she plays her part well. There are also a number of great little turns from some familiar, and some not so familiar, faces, with Jeremy Gardner being a slight scene-stealer yet again and Richard Brake bringing his inimitable air of quiet menace to the table.

If you're after something that's not tied to some big names, in terms of the property or the way it is marketed, then I highly recommend checking this out. The imperfection of it just adds to the charm, and major bonus points to Keating for also delivering an ending that feels like a proper ending (something that used to be lacking from every indie horror movie I watched for a few years). It's not entirely original, it's not all wrapped up in a neat bow, but it does enough to stand out from the crowd, with cast and crew all doing their bit to make something that feels like a real hidden gem. Do your bit to uncover it, and share the pleasing glimmer of it with others.

8/10

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