Review: Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets has been on my "To Be Reviewed" pile for a very long time.  I grabbed the PDF when it came out, but set it aside for the longest time because I was working on a bunch of other things and didn't get the chance.  I picked it back up and really enjoyed it. So much so I also picked it up in hardcover Print on Demand.  

A couple of things though to get started.  Dark Streets & Darker Secrets (DS&DS) is a modern occult horror game based on old-school style mechanics. I also have a modern occult horror game based on old-school style mechanics.  So I am aware that any criticism I might lay on this game could come off as sounding self-serving. I want to always be aware of this and have you the reader keep this in mind as you read my review here.  Also the author, Diogo Nogueira, also lists the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG from Eden as one of his inspirations.  This game was also Jason Vey's and my inspiration for NIGHT SHIFT.  Jason and I met while working on Buffy.  NIGHT SHIFT was designed to fit "the Buffy shaped hole" in our lives as I have said before.  So both games come from very, very similar backgrounds with very, very similar goals.  That all being said, DS&DS is NOT in competition with NIGHT SHIFT.  Nor is Diogo a competitor.  I consider him a colleague.   Both Dark Streets & Darker Secrets and NIGHT SHIFT can, and do, live on my shelves and game table in complete peace with each other.  I am going to spend some time tomorrow talking about how both games (and two more) can be used together.   Today though I am going to talk about where DS&DS shines (is that the proper word for a "dark" game?) and what it does. 

So let's get to it.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

by Diogo Nogueira.  222 pages, hardcover. Color cover with black and white interior art.  For this review, I am considering both the PDF and the Print on Demand hardcovers from DriveThruRPG. 

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets (DS&DS) is a modern occult horror game from ENnie Award winner Diogo Nogueira. The book is digest size so it fit well with many "old school" style books of the last 10 years.  It not only fits on the shelf physically but thematically as well.  The game is based on Nogueira's earlier works Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, so out of the gate there are more resources for this game if you desire.

The game itself is a gritty, modern occult/supernatural horror game.  The normal humans are just slightly above average for the most part and the monsters are way more powerful.  Immediately I thought of it as a bit of Chill mixed in with Kult. The feel is very much "humanity alone against the darkness."

The book is laid out in eight chapters with some appendices.

Chapter 1: Introduction  

This chapter covers the basics of what is in the book.  

Chapter 2: Character Creation  

If you have played any old-school-like game in the last 45+ years you have an idea what this chapter is about.  The differences here fit the tone of the game.  Character attributes are rolled using a 2d6+3 (not a 3d6 or even 4d6 drop the lowest), this creates a narrower band of character attributes, 5-15 but still on the same human range of 3-18.  There is a chance to increase these later on.  The attribute themselves are a simplified version of the Basic 6; Physique (combining Strength and Constitution), Agility (Dexterity), Intellect (Intelligence), and Willpower (Wisdom and Charisma).   Once those are done you create a character concept which is a basic couple word description and not a backstory.

After this, it is time to choose the Archetype or essentially the class of the character.  They are The Tough, The Nimble, The Smart, and The Gifted.  These align with the attributes above. The Gifted is special in that you can be a spell-caster or even a supernatural creature like a vampire, werewolf, or even an alien.  Each archetype also gets a "recovery roll" which decides how quick they can bounce back from injury. 

Since this is a gritty sort of universe all characters have a complication. These can come into play in the game to keep things "difficult and exciting" for the characters.  It includes a d66 table (roll 2d6 and use the rolls like d%.  Traveller people know this one well). 

Then you pick out some gear. If it is mundane gear you have it. You also get some weapons and "weird" gear. These are detailed in the next chapter.

Finally, we have derived scores. Vitality (Physique + Level) are your "hit points."   Sanity, or mental stability, is equal to your Intellect.  Now I have mentioned before I do not like how many games handle insanity or madness.  Sadly this game is not an exception.  I spent a few years working in a mental health facility back when I was in grad school.  There is no relationship between intelligence and mental health.  In fact, I had one guy who was schizophrenic and could speak 3 or 4 languages including German and Swahili. He learned I also spoke German and would use that when he wanted to talk about the other clients "in secret" to me. So yeah. I am not really a fan of this one. I'd rather roll a 2d6 and then add a bonus from Willpower (and maybe Intellect) to get my Sanity score.   There is also Luck points which are like fate points or drama points (everyone starts with 3) and Money.

Chapter 3: Gear  

Covers mundane gear, expendable gear (like ammunition and things that wear out) and even some weird gear.   Weird items are the best part.  Every character has one weird item they start off with.  This is easily explainable either they found it and thus introduced to the weirder world OR they have always had it and the world is waiting for them.  There is a d100 table that covers a bunch of different sorts of items.  Note, we just get the names of the items, what they do will be discovered in-game. 

Additionally, drugs, services, illegal goods, and money points (abstraction of money carried) are also dealt with. 

Chapter 4: Rules of the City  

Here are our basic rules for the game.  Everything is an attribute check (roll under your attribute modified by level and difficulty).  There are some neat quirks.  There is an advantage/disadvantage system here called Positive and Negative rolls. Rolling on your attribute is considered a critical success. You roll lower than your attribute to succeed, BUT higher than the difficulty.  So if something has a difficulty of 8 and my attribute is 12 I have to roll a 12 or lower BUT also higher than an 8. So only rolls of 9, 10, 11, and 12 will get me a success. 

Players can add a Luck roll to their challenges. This is not a matter of just adding points. You have to roll a d6. If it is equal to or lower than their luck score then you get to make a situation more favorable. 

This chapter also covers sanity and madness. You lose Sanity if you encounter something strange and fail a Willpower test. Difficulty set by the situation. Points lost also can vary. When the character's Sanit score reaches 0 then they get a Madness.   Thankfully there is no list of "madnesses" here.  Most game designers get these horribly wrong anyways.  In game you get a minor "quirk" on your first loss.  If you suffer 4 losses then the character has succumbed to madness and can't be played. 

Level advancement is a form of Milestone advancement that looks like it should work rather well.  Again individual GMs can (and should) alter this to fit their needs. 

Chapter 5: Combat  

Like many RPGs combat gets a special chapter even if it is just a particular form of the rules stated above.  But if one is going to fight the armies of darkness then one is expected to actually fight.  Reading through this you get the idea that yes the characters can be tough. You also get the idea that the things they are fighting are a lot tougher.  While there are a few ways the players can save their character's bacon, there are still a lot of grisly ways to die in this game. 

Chapter 6: Sorcery and Psychic Powers  

Ah, now this is the meat of the game in my mind. A Gifted character can be a sorcerer, a witch, a psychic or some other type of creature.  Their powers and how to use them are detailed here.  Regardless of the origin or the nature of the powers, game-wise they are treated in similar manners, the difference largely being different Backlash tables.  How they are played can vary wildly.   I mentioned that this is grittier game than one would see in say a Buffy-like game. The previously mentioned Backlash is one and Corruption is another.  These include simple things like a "witch's mark" to changes to one's body and mind or just getting pulled right into the Abyss.  Pro-tip, don't botch your rolls.

A very nice (and long) list of powers is given with their effects.  While the list is long (60 entries) it is not exhaustive. 

Additionally, Arcane artifacts are covered. How they are made, what they do, powers, cost (to make AND to use), and some samples.

Chapter 7: Running the Game  

This covers the world of DS&DS.  There is a bias (is that the right word? Preference is better) to an urbane game.  Thus the title really.  Outside of this there is no set theme or even setting. This would be a sandbox game if it were a FRPG. What we do get here is a ton of tables full of ideas for a a game, campaign, or an entire world. 

Chapter 8: Monsters  

Our Monster chapter differs from other games in that there is not a bestiary here per se, but example creatures and the means to make others of a similar nature.  So for example there is a Cultis section that covers some sample cultists from 1-3 HD to demon-possessed leaders of 4-8 HD.  This includes a table of "What are They Doing?" and "What do They Want?"  A very effective means of repurposing content.  The more powerful the creature the more detail they need obviously, but there is not a lot of detail in most cases.  This works well here since the players (mostly the GM) provide all the details.  There are powers listed for random creatures as well.

Appendix O: Optional Rules 

Here are a group of optional rules you can add to your game. Things like Drunken Luck, Daring Points, Single Hero games and Multi-Archetype (Multi-Class) Characters. 

Appendix I: Inspirational Materials  

Covers the various books, movies, TV Shows, and other RPGs for inspiration. 

Appendix S: Simple Scenario Structure  

This discusses how to build a quick scenario and an example.

We end with a Character Sheet (and a Form Fillable one is provided with the PDF) and the OGL statement.  I do feel the need to point out that Nogueira has released this game as 100% Open Gaming Content.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets certainly lives up to the hype and has a lot going for it.  If you have a world already in your mind and just need a system to flesh it out then this is a great choice for you.  In this respect, it is very similar to old-school D&D. No default world type, just the tools to play in the world of your imagination with some assumptions built-in. 

If you are looking for huge meta-plotting like the World of Darkness or even the baked-in mythology of Buffy the Vampire Slayer you find that here, which is refreshing. The players all have maximum flexibility to do what they want and that is the key strength of this game.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Witchcraft Documentaries

Last year I did a few documentaries and I rather enjoyed it.  I am WAY over the requirements for the challenge, so these are fine in my book.  Given all the streaming choices I have, I collected a nice list of these.  Hope to get through them all. 

The Witch of Kings Cross (2020)

I mentioned this one earlier the week.  This is documentary from Sonia Bible about surealist occult artist ] Rosaleen Norton. It is quite good really and an interesting look into an interesting life.  There is horror here, but the normal kind of what humans will do to each other when they are afraid of what they don't know or understand.

Vampira and Me (2012)

A look at a contemporary of Norton, though on the other side of the world. This one covers the career and life of Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira. Writen, directed and produced by Ray Greene, this documentary doesn't shy away from the problems Nurmi faced in her life, but this is obviously a piece made by someone that considers Nurmi a friend.  Completed a few years after her death it features archival footage of Nurmi being interviewed by Greene for another project. I was sad to hear, though not surprised, that no material from her Vampira days still exist.   

Parallels can be drawn between Nurmi and Norton, women that bucked and went against the trend of what was expected of women in the 1950s.  Both embracing something darker in their own psyche I suppose to give us something entirely new.

I also read "Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark" by Cassandra Peterson this past month and there are plenty of parallels between Nurmi and Petersen as well as Vampiria and Elvira.  I heard the tale of of how Vampiria was involved, then not, with what would become Elvira Mistress of the Dark from both sides.  Again it is a tale where a woman is not given any agency for her creative efforts and how it turns out. Poorly in the case Nurmi and Vampiria.  Or what happens when she takes control and how it turns out. Well in the case of Petersen and Elviria. 

Ultimately Nurmi's tale is a sad one and one I fear is not all that uncommon.

Magic: Witchcraft and Magic (2004)

This one featured Patrick Macnee of The Avengers. Not the Marvel ones, the BBC ones.  This might have been made in 2004, but it feels like something out of the 80s or 90s.  There is not a lot of substance here.  In fact, pretty much anyone that reads this blog knows everything already knows all the material presented.  I was annoyed by some of it with some out right wrong information and other things, like talking to a white "magic shop" owner as their expert on Voodoo.  I supposed it is fine given how much of it they got wrong.   Can't recommend it all. 

Witchcraft: A History of Dark Arts (2020)

From writer/director Kim Harrington.  The narration is from Deryn Oliver.  

It covers all sorts of witch-related topics, but none in detail.  The video is made up of a bunch of clips that have all the feel of "stock art."  They often never line up with what is being spoken about.  For example, a discussion of the Salem witch trials features an image of what appears to be a Bronze Age Rabbinical tribunal. Many of the images/clips are often reused. 

In general, the research is pretty good, this one might have more information that the readers here may or may not know.  If you have read most of my books then likely not.  Though there is more about Luciferian Witches than I typically talk about.

Deryn Oliver gives a great narration and her voice reminds me of Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins. 

Ghosts and Witches of Olde England (2001)

This one largely focuses on stories of witches and ghosts of England. 

We cover ghosts like the ones from Dickens to evil ghosts in Cornwall.  Plenty of ghosts of priests were killed in the conversion of England from Catholicism to the Church of England. 

It was a fun watch, but there was not all that much that was new for me here.  I guess I should not be surprised at this point.

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Here we are. The end of another October and Halloween.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from The Other Side!

October 2021
Viewed: 62
First Time Views: 48

October Horror Movie Challenge: Halloween-eve Marathon

Hit a bunch of movies all day. One repeat, a couple are new, and couple are not very good.

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)

Also known as Night Warning is a fairly terrible movie I always remembered from the salacious cover. Baby Billy is left with his aunt while his parents drive out to start their new lives and jobs with plans to get Billy in a little bit.  Good thing because their breaks give out and they are killed. 

Move forward 15 years later and Billy is not a high school senior with a girlfriend and still living with his aunt.  I could go on, but the movie is like I said terrible. Aunt wants to bang Billy. So bad that she is killing everyone to keep him with her.

Man Beast (1956)

This was on Midnight Pulp while I was looking for something else.  Bigfoot-like creature in the Himalayas.  I watched it to double-check to see if I still dislike horror from the 1950s.   Yeah. Still do.  I nearly fell asleep.

Wicked Lake (2008)

Rewatched this one with the DVD commentary.  The cast had a blast doing this one.  Was sorting through all my horror DVDs to see which ones I can unload at Half-Price books.  It's still fun. It starts out looking like an "I Spit on Your Grave" rip off but at midnight the women turn the tables and kill everyone.  They are all witches and have powers.

October 2021
Viewed: 57
First Time Views: 43

Sword & Sorcery & Cinema / October Horror Movie Challenge: Vlad the Impaler (2018)

Found a good movie for double duty today, though it is a bit light on the Sorcery and Horror.

Vlad the Impaler aka Deliler (2018) 

This is a Turkish movie detailing the battle between the Turks and Prince Vlad of Wallachia in the 15th century.  It is pretty obvious from the start that this movie is very pro-Turkish and paints Vlad as not just evil, but the embodiment of evil.

The Deliler of the Turkish title refers to the band of elite warriors of the Sultan Mehmed sent to stop Vlad. A bit like the 15th-century SAS.  There is seven total, and they are all portrayed as bad-asses, but bad -asses in the service of the side of good. They are also kind to widows, small children, and babies. They are featured on the cover (the top three anyway, Gökkurt is the one with the wings) and Vlad on the lower right is the obvious bad guy.

Vlad is seen killing his own people, working with an alchemist to devise weaponized rats, and even having his men kill the beggars that help them collect the rats.   All the while claiming to be the Son of God.

They are not going for subtlety here. 

Despite what the American covers of the movie might have you think, this movie is about the Deliler, not so much about Vlad. Throughout the movie, the Deliler seem to have a sort of supernatural connection to each other and their Sultan.  Not to mention their near-supernatural fighting ability. 

It takes a while but we finally get to the big battle at the end.  Six Deliler against all of Vlad's army.  How do you think it will go?  Well more of the Sultan's men show up just in time. 

A lot of reviews online claim this movie is nothing more than a propaganda piece by the Turks. Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know enough about Turkish politics to be able to say for sure.  The movie is very obviously pro-Turk and anti...anti bad guy? I am not sure what it is against.  I suppose it must be like seeing an American movie with a Rambo like figure, or seven of them, fighting some Commie, or Nazi, or whomever we are mad at today.  I guess this is "Team America: World Police."

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Game content.  Well, it would not be bad to get a good feel for how you could run Barovia with a more 15th-century feel as opposed to the Hammer-Horror filter of the 15th to 19th Century.  How about this. A group of elite, obviously Good, warriors (fighters, barbarians, bards, a ranger, and paladin) whose only purpose is to destroy vampires and Strahd in particular.  Maybe something like the Order of St. Johan. 

Are there better, more historically accurate tales? Of course. But this is a place to start for some D&D background. 

October 2021
Viewed: 54
First Time Views: 41

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Tim Knight of Hero Press and Pun Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim along with myself are getting together at the Facebook Group I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters to discuss these movies.  Follow along with the hashtag #IdRatherBeWatchingMonsters.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Draug (2018)

This one was interesting. I was looking for a movie about one of my favorite topics, the last stand of Paganism against the rising tide of Christianity.  I was looking for something with witches, or even vampires.  If it was Swedish or Norwegian even better.  I was rather pleased to find this one.  It is in Swedish, so that is another language that I can add to my list this month.

Draug (2018)

In the 11th century, a missionary goes missing in the forests and Hakon (Ralf Beck) and his fosterling Nanna (Elna Karlsson) who is on her first mission.  They travel with the local Lord and Sherif Kettil (Thomas Hedengran), who feels a little like a Viking Lord of old.   We are told that there is something "old and evil" in the forests.

Kettil would like to torture all the villagers he encounters to get them to tell them where the missionaries are, later revealed to be a bishop, but Hakon, formerly "Hakon the Terrible" convinces him they don't have to. 

They travel through the dark Ödmården forest in Hälsingland on Sweden's east coast when they are attacked by bandits. The normal, human, kind, but it is still a horrific battle.  

While torturing one of the captives Nanna thinks she sees a body that later moves.  She then notices carrion birds that lead them to the dead bishop.

During the night Odd, one of the party that was wounded, is woken up by what looks like a dead body.  It attacks him and Deja, Kettil's slave and healer, sees it and screams. 

The Draugr attack in the night and kill most of the group leaving only Kettil, Nanna, Gunder, and Kol. They try to leave by a boat they find, but Kettil attacks Nanna thinking she is the witch that summoned the draugr.  Nanna has figured out how to stop the draugr and wants to try before they leave.  She enters some sort of trance where she is confronted by a witch (Lina Hedlund), who may or may not be her real mother. 

Nanna stays in the trance till dark. Gunder tries to wake her, and get everyone onto the boat. But he is killed by a draugr.  The boat capsizes leaving only Kettil and Nanna.  He kills Nanna, but only to late does he discover she isn't controlling the draugr and they kill him. 

In the post-credits scene we see Kol survive the boat wreck and he swims to shore.

Not a bad flick with some good scares, but the plotting could have been a little tighter.

October 2021
Viewed: 53
First Time Views: 40

 

October Horror Movie Challenge: Another aka Mark of the Witch (2014) and Sorceress (2017)

This is another couple of movies that came recommended. Not sure if the recommendation though panned out.  These two have a lot in common. Both movies deal with dead mothers of witch girls, family curses, insanity, and both movies are way, way damn slow.

Another aka Mark of the Witch (2014) 

On her 18th birthday, Jordyn (Paulie Rojas) begins to notice some strange things going on around her, starting with her Aunt harming herself.   Turns out that her mother was in some sort of cult with her sister and Jordyn was conceived during some ritual.   Her mother died in childbirth and her aunt has protected her this entire time.

Jordyn is going crazy seeing all sorts of strange things, but mostly someone that looks just like her doing evil acts.  As the movie, slowly, develops, we learn her doppelgänger, is the spirit of her mother trying to take over her life. 

The movie is 80 mins long, but if all the slow-motion scenes were played at normal speeds it would have only been an hour long, tops.

I wanted to like this movie more. It had a lot of good ideas going into it, but they never quite jelled in my mind.

Sorceress (2017)

So, oddly enough a lot of similar elements here.  We have girl, this time Nina (Naama Kates, also the writer and director) who's mother just died by suicide.  Nina has traveled to Russia to visit her mother's family.  Nina was told her life that she was a witch like her mother.  While she does not get along with her uncle and his family she does meet Katya.  Katya (Oona Airola) flirts with Nina and soon both women are living together.  Nina though is either going crazy, like her mother did, or does have magic, also...like her mother did. 

This one looks great; I find there is a bleak beauty to Russia, I find it oddly fascinating.  Sadly this is not enough to save this movie.

There is something about the intersection of madness and witchcraft.  Something that I think Rosaleen Norton was tapping into.  I was hoping for more with both movies to be honest. I am going to need to find more on this topic.  Hopefully ones that won't put me to sleep.

October 2021
Viewed: 52
First Time Views: 39

October Horror Movie Challenge: Coven of Evil (2020)

I wanted to get in more witch movies this Challenge, but I am running out of days.  I added this one early one and just never got around to it till now.  Many of the reviews for it online are fairly bad but a couple suggests checking out for yourself. So I did.

Coven of Evil (2020)

Joe is a journalist and he just published his first article about a coven of witches in England.  He is later approached by the high priestess Evie asking him if he wants to come to one of their rituals so he could correct some inaccuracies he published.

He meets many of the members including Evie's jerk husband Zander and a few other guys who all live in the house.  There is also a woman upstairs that no one acknowledges.  

He agrees and is soon joining a ritual where he gets high and ends up having sex with one of the other girls, Talia (we think).  The next morning Joe wants to leave until he sees one of the other guys hitting one of the other girls. 

Joe finally runs into Alice, the girl he saw in the upstairs room. She later returns to her room where she is beaten with a belt by Zander.  He does it again when she sleepwalks out. The guy is a sadist.   For some reason, they don't want or let Alice join the coven.  

Some errors in the plot/script.   The night after she gets beaten by Zander so bad she needs a healing spell, she is walking around the house with a low-cut dress in the back.  No scars.  

We learn they are planning on sacrificing Alice, so they practice by killing Talia.

While all of this is going on Joe and Alice end up having sex, or at least trying. Turns out that when Joe had sex with "Talia" it was actually a drugged-out Alice. 

We get to the sacrifice and learn that Alice is no longer suitable for sacrifice but her unborn baby will be. 

The eclipse comes and Alice sees herself talking to herself telling her not to be weak.   She wakes up from her stupor and turns the knife onto Evie, who she ends up killing.   Turns out they summon the "Gate Keeper" anyway and he is pissed off that the sacrifices were inadequate. 

The Gatekeeper takes everyone to hell (or wherever) and leaving Alice and Joe.

A year later the baby is born and it might be evil.

They try for a "Wicker Man" vibe here and more or less get it.  The movie is independent, so don't expect great special effects, acting, or production values.   The biggest issue is the movie is slow and the script for the most part makes little sense at times.

October 2021
Viewed: 50
First Time Views: 37

October Horror Movie Challenge: Carmilla (2019)

"I'll never let the devil into this house Lara."

- Miss Fontaine

Not too long after saying this, she does exactly that.

One would think I had seen every version of Carmilla out there. And in truth I had, until very recently.  This is a new one and one that came highly recommended to me. 

The cast is pretty amazing with a personal favorite of mine Jessica Raine as Miss Fontaine, the Mademoiselle De Lafontaine character from the novella.  Tobias Menzies of Game of Thrones and Outlander fame as The Doctor (Spielsberg).

It also includes new(-sh)commers, Hannah Rae as Lara "Bauer" (not sure why the name is changed), and Devrim Lingnau as Carmilla.

The movie more or less follows the basic story novella but also takes a few liberties.  It is atmospheric and gothic and sadly dreadfully slow. It does play up the tension between Carmilla and Miss Fontaine more.

The story is fine, not a lot of horrors though and some of my favorite lines from the book are gone.

Not really a fan of how it ended.

October 2021
Viewed: 49
First Time Views: 36

 

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Queen of Black Magic (1981, 2019)

Believe it or not, I did not get the streaming channel Shudder, until really recently.  I was building my list and I saw one I knew of but had not seen yet, 1981's The Queen of Black Magic, also known as Ratu Ilmu Hitam or Queen of the Dark Arts. I also saw there was a Shudder exclusive, 2019's The Queen of Black Magic.  Thinking they might be the same I opted to make a night of it.  

The Queen of Black Magic (1981)

This one came highly recommended.  

Baedah is getting married, but something is wrong.  She sees maggots, snakes, and the groom as a corpse and his men as demons. Something also is attacking the local shaman.  The groom, Kohar, quickly decides that it must be Murni's fault because she is a witch. She is a witch because this is all her fault. Solid logic!  We learn that he had seduced Murni and took "her dignity" (virginity) but would not marry her. 

Murni is played by Indonesian horror queen Suzzanna (Suzzanna Martha Frederika van Osch).  "Murni" by the way means "Pure" in Indonesian.  Kohar and his mean go to her home and lynch her. He even slaps her old mother and sets their home on fire.  They toss her off the side of a cliff to make sure to "get rid of her black magic" but she is caught by a strange man.   

The man rescues her and nurses her back to health.  He tells her if they accuse of her black magic then she should use black magic to get her revenge. She will be the Queen of Black Magic.  

We get a "training montage" which involves Murni doing naked backflips under a full moon until smoke comes out of her head.  This had to be near-pornographic for Indonesia in the early 80s.

Murni returns to her village, much to the shock of the men that tried to kill her.  They try to warn Kohar, but she summons bees to kill one of them.  She then causes huge boils to form on another and they explode, filled with blood.   Gruesome, yet satisfying.  Lots of great examples of sympathetic magic here too.  

An Indonesian Lionel Richie-looking dude shows up to the village. He seems very religious and immune to the effects of black magic. 

Murni killing Kohar by getting him to rip off his own head is worth the price of admission alone.  Then watching Kohar's head fly around is just great. 

The becomes a battle between black magic and the power of the new stranger, Permana, invoking god. 

In their battle, we learn that Permana is Murni's older brother to learn from a holy man far away.  Makes sense since they both can do the same backflips.

They fight, but when the evil priest/magician that trains Murni shows up to kill Permana, Murni turns on him instead.  She blows him up with magic, but it is implied she dies as well.

Some great effects really, given the time and budget, and a fun story.

The Queen of Black Magic (2019)

This one is also Indonesian and described as a loose-remake of the first. 

This one starts out strong. A family is driving back to visit the orphanage the father grew up in.  While talking they hit something. Getting out they find a deer on the side of the road, but it seems like it has been there a bit.  As they drive off we see a bloody girl on the other side of the road that they missed. 

They meet at the orphanage and others are also here to see the old caretaker., Mr. Bandi.

We learn that one of the kids from the orphanage was a girl named Murni. But no idea if it is the same one. Obviously, there is something about Murni that makes the adults very squeamish.  

Hanif, the father, is getting food from his car when he notices the blood on the car but also the black hair.  The deer he hit was brown.  Driving back he and one of his brothers, Jefri, find the girl.  They also find a bus full of the orphans and they are all dead. Murdered. 

They let their other brother Anton know and he drives back to see and go get the police.  He gets trapped on the bus and attacked by bugs. So many that his eyes pop out of their sockets.  Back at the orphanage the same thing is happening to his wife Eva.  Lina, believing she is too fat due to hormone treatments and begins cutting off bits of her flesh.   Eva rips off some of her skin and bugs come crawling out.

We learn the three boys as orphans discovered that Ms. Mirah had abducted a girl and was using black magic. So they locked her in a room where she banged her head against a door until she split her own skull open.  So with Mr. Bandi's help, they tore up the floor, put her body in, and covered it in cement. 

We see her ghost at one point. Damn. The Indonesians have some scary-ass monsters.

Nadya, Hanif's wife, discovers a bunch of photos of half-dressed underage girls that apparently Mr. Bandi took.  One of the girls is Siti, the woman married to Maman who invited them all there.   When confronted with the photos Siti tells everyone he did it with all the girls. When three were going to tell, he locked them in a room and poisoned them.  It seems that Ms. Mirah was protecting the girls and she was going to kill Mr. Bandi.   

Nif finds another picture and we learn that Murni was Ms. Mirah's daughter.

Something, Murni likely, begins to torture everyone. Eva is clawing her skin off, the orphans are being scalded with steaming water. Nif's children are getting whipped. It's all pretty brutal. 

Murni gets her head cut off, but puts it back on in an obvious nod to the first movie.  Nadya sets Murni on fire.

Later Nadya is picking Haniq from school but thinks she sees Murni. 

The movie ends with scenes from the 1981 original. 

--

Both movies were pretty good with some good scares and a good story.  Glad I watched them back to back. 

October 2021
Viewed: 48
First Time Views: 35

October Horror Movie Challenge: Astaroth (2017)

This one came up as a suggested movie on Tubi so I had to check it out.   I have long been fascinated by the Goddess Astarte and her literal demonization to the male demon Astaroth. This movie covers some of that and adds some neat little tidbits as well. 

Astaroth (2017)

The movie is Brazilian and completely in Portuguese.  Thankfully the captions are in English.  Not that it would matter much, it's not a difficult one to follow.

Our stars are three college students living together whose primary interests seem to be tattoos and metal.  There is tattoo artist Dri (Ju Calaf),  guitarist Lia (played by former top Brazilian porn star Monica Mattos), and martial artist Mai.  Dri and Lia meet up with tattoo artist Gregório (Janderson Tucunduva) who has been communing with the demon Astaroth (also played by Mattos).

Gregório has been tattooing sigils on to people so Astaroth can claim them.  Once she has enough she can come into the mortal world.

All in all not a bad premise.  The movie feels like an American horror movie circa 1995, only a lot less sex and nudity if you can believe that.  The movie doesn't really get going until the half-way mark. 

Eventually, Lia gets possessed by Astaroth kills Dri, but not before Mai can find out.  Mai figures out what Astaroth is and kills Gregório and the possessed Lia to send Astaroth to hell.

The movie is quite obsessed with metal with the bands getting top billing right after the actresses. Not a bad thing really; demons, metal, horror, it all fits together.  The trouble is sometimes it comes across as an 80s training video.  If it had been made in the 80s there would have been a larger body count and at least one song by Dokken.

It wasn't a bad flick really, it just had the feel of some people doing this on a budget and they got all their friends over to do it. 

October 2021
Viewed: 46
First Time Views: 33

October Horror Movie Challenge: Mother of Tears (2007)

The third of Dario Argento's "Three Mothers" series that began with Suspiria (1977) and followed into Inferno (1980). This one deals with the Mother of Tears, Matter Lachymarum, the most beautiful and cruelest of all the mothers. 

Mother of Tears (2007)

A crypt is uncovered in an ancient Italian graveyard with a coffin and a reliquary.  Inside the reliquary are little stone carvings of demons and a red vest that they keep calling a talisman.  It is sent to the Museum of Ancient Art in Rome to be studied by the curator Michael Pierce. He is out so it is opened by art student (and Pierce's girlfriend) Sarah Mandy (director's daughter Asia Argento).  She lets out some demons that attack and kill her colleague. Sarah manages to escape by listening to a voice that tells her where to go.

Soon Rome descends into violence as more witches from all over the world begin to come to town. We learn that they have heard the call of Matter Lachymarum. She has returned from the dead with her red talisman. Sarah is watched by the police for her colleague's disappearance and by all the witches for reasons we don't know yet.  The voice she hears keeps getting her out of trouble. 

We learn that Sarah is the daughter of a powerful white witch that dealt a serious blow to Mater Suspiriorum (Suspiria). It is implied that she was one of the dancers.  Sarah also has power and that is why Matter Lachymarum is seeking her out. 

The witches coming to Rome manage to kill pretty much everyone that Sarah knows. 

Sarah finds Matter Lachymarum's home and before she can be sacrificed she uses a spear to rip off Matter Lachymarum red talisman and burns it.  All the witches panic and Matter Lachymarum is killed.

--

So. It's not a great movie. There are some good moments. I think what I should do is watch all three back to back sometime to get Argento's full experience.

Asia Argento is not a great actress.  She was ok in this, but someone with more skill would have been better. 

The witches coming to Rome though were great. One of the things I loved here was that the witches all spoke a language they alone understood. I have seen this in Motherland, Coven, and Emerald City.  Now I really want to try and implement it in a game somehow. 

Creating a language though. That is WAY beyond my skillset. 

October 2021
Viewed: 45
First Time Views: 32

October Horror Movie Challenge: Lady Bathory Night

I have seen a lot of attempts of telling the Bathory story.  This one focuses more on the history than the vampire retellings. Though it gets some of that wrong as well.

The Blood Queen (2015)

The acting by the young stars,  Isabelle Allen as Aletta and Lucas Bond as her brother Mischa, is quite good really.  I expect to see more of them in the future.

Equally, Svetlana Khodchenkova is hypnotic as Bathory. Watching her on-screen you really want her to be something other than the monster we know her to be. 

Aletta and Mischa get arrested for being thieves but are soon rescued by the Countess' aides, Dorata and Ilona.  Both children are taken to the castle.

The Countess takes an interest in Aletta, and it is not entirely a wholesome one.  

While Aletta is getting more involved with the castle, and the more Mischa is getting beat up, we discover that kids go missing all the time from the castle.

Mischa is caught stealing Bathory's book and is thrown in the dungeons.  The book is Bathory's diary of the children she tortured, mutilated, and killed.  

Mischa manages to escape and get back to the judge to tell him about Bathory, but the judge decides that Mischa is lying and sentences him to death.    Aletta also tries to escape, thinking that Mischa has left her.  She runs into Katja, the gypsy girl we saw in the beginning.  Katja is Aletta's older sister that went missing the year before.  She had been at Castle Csejte but had escaped.   Katja almost gets away with Aletta, but is killed by Dorata.

Bathory has Aletta chained up above her bath to drain her, but Mischa arrives with Bear, the jailer that Mischa had impressed with his ability to get out of any locks.   Bear saves Aletta, but not before Bathory kills Mischa.  The King's men arrive in time to arrest Bathory. 

After this, the story follows what history tells us.   It's not a bad flick at all, but not a great one either. Light on the explicit horror but heavy on the implied.  They changed Bathory's victims to boys and girls instead of just girls.  I suppose they needed to do this to allow Mischa in.   There was just so much more they could have done with it I feel.

The movie was very stylish. It scene was great to look at and Svetlana Khodchenkova was great as Bathory.  It reminded me a lot of the Daughters of Darkness.  Then I recalled I had a brand new Ultra 4k BluRay I had gotten for my birthday!  I figured I should pop it in.

Daughters of Darkness (1971)

This is still one of my favorite horror films from the 70s. This new Ultra 4k transfer is fantastic looking.  Blue Underground does a great job as always.  This one is a 3-disc set. An Ultra 4k BlueRay, a regular BluRay, and a soundtrack CD.  

I did Daughters of Darkness in 2019. So watching it now I still have my DVD version in mind.  This one is so much clearer, so much sharper.    For example, when Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) is reading the newspaper you can actually see the page she is reading.   The scene where Stefan beats Valerie is also much, unnecessarily so, clearer.  The car crash at the end is so much brighter and clearer you can see all the skid marks on the road from the other takes. 

Plus it is great watching this right after The Blood Queen is kind of fun.  Both movies featured a haunting portrayal of Ezerabet Bathory as a blonde from two fantastic actresses. Both movies also feature her servant Ilona.  

I have not checked out all the special features yet, but they look interesting. There are two features I did check out are the interviews with Danielle Ouimet "Valerie" and Andrea Rau "Ilona."  Danielle Ouimet's was fantastic and a lot of fun.   Andrea Rau's was also great and also great to hear sounding excited in this.   They look like they were filmed in 2006. Both actresses have nothing but wonderful things to say about Delphine Seyrig.

Each time I watch this I am just fascinated by Delphine Seyrig.  She seems like she is much classier than this movie should be allowed to have. I think about a modern remake of this and I can't think of anyone who could play her the same way.  Though I do admit that Svetlana Khodchenkova came very, very close.

Eternal (2004)

I figure lets keep going.  I had seen most of the other adaptations of the Bathory story from her time period, I had often wondered though what filmmakers had in mind for her post-1971.  I guess the answer is "Canada."  Or at least that is the way that filmmaker Wilhelm Liebenberg sees it in 2004's Eternal. Here we get Caroline Néron as Elizabeth Kane aka Erszabet Bathory.  We don't have an Ilona character, well and Irinia, but there is an actress whose real name is Ilona. 

We open with a woman,"Wildcat" played by Sarah Manninen, who goes to see Elizabeth for some pre-arranged sexual hook-up.  Elizabeth promptly kills her and asks her assistant to prepare her bath.

Soon we learn that the woman was the wife of cop, Raymond Pope (played by Conrad Pla). Raymond is not what you call a faithful husband.  He is having sex with another woman (who we learn is Nancy, the wife of his friend) when he gets the call about his wife's car.  Pope goes to see Erszabet/Elizabeth.  BTW Conrad Pla is not a great actor.  His son Joey Pla, who plays his son Nathan, is a better actor.  Now to be fair the role he is playing is not supposed to be subtle.   Caroline Néron on the other hand is much better. 

Ray continues to investigate Bathory while she kills Nancy.   Ray investigates and drinks and spends time in strip clubs while his friend and son's babysitter Lisa is killed by Irina. 

Ray follows Bathory to Venice (despite being wanted for murder and having a kid to watch)  where he ends up at Bathory's house. Here he hunts her down during her orgy but is shot and stabbed.  He is saved by the Interpol Detective he talked to in Montreal, Inspector Thurzo. Somehow Thurzo, who also seems to be a priest of some sort, has everything cleared up for him. Of course like an idiot Raymond drinks the wine Elizabeth gives him. It is hinted he will go rescue her when she is transferred to a clinic in Switzerland. 

The movie is not great, not by any stretch of the imagination. 

October 2021
Viewed: 44
First Time Views: 31

October Horror Movie Challenge: Lilith (2019, 2018, & 2017)

Some movies about one of my favorite mythological figures Lilith.  

Lillith (2019)

Ok, this one is spelled with two Ls and is a bit of a silly movie, but even then there is a good-sized body count.    Jenna played by Nell Kessler discovers her boyfriend cheating on her. She and her friend Emma decided to get some revenge by summoning the demon "Lillith."  Trouble is she never really believed it would work even when she shows up.  Savannah Whitten is so much fun as Lilith.  She brings a real dark sense of humor to the role.  I love the makeup effects they use for her too.

A few other things.  I love the Tarot card they are using here. And 69 action news? Sure why not!

Let's be honest...this is not a great movie, but it is a fun one.  There is a solid vibe here of just a bunch of friends getting together to shot a horror movie.  It is quite fun.

They have/had a good social media presence, so that is also really fun.

• https://www.facebook.com/LillithFilm/
• https://itsblogginevil.com/tag/lillith/
• https://ritterhausproductions.com/lillith/
• https://www.voicesfromthebalcony.com/2021/06/24/lillith-2019-review/

Lilith (2018)

Ok now, this one is 180° from the one above.  This one is an anthology where the central theme is Lilith getting revenge on men who have wronged women. The connective tissue here is Police Detective Ryan Carson.  We see him shooting Lilith (we learn later) in the first scene.

The first story deals with Brook Carson (Brialynn Massie), the detective's teenage daughter.  She is having sex with her teacher and gets pregnant.  Unable to deal she kills herself.  Brooks friends, who abandoned her when she needed them try to blackmail the teacher, but they screw it up. One kid gets shot and the teacher tries to kill the others.  While he is hunting them down Brook comes back, but possessed by Lilith.  She kills her former friends for abandoning her and the teacher.  When she is done though her father sees her and tells her that Lilith will take care of her now.

In the next one Lilith poses as a caregiver for an old man.  She takes on the form of "Joanne" the old man's dead wife. In this one Philip (Vernon Wells) expects her to show up and has been waiting. There is the implication that Lilith is now in charge of Hell.  She kills Philip and Det. Carson shows up later to investigate. 

The next story deals with a guy, Darren (Colton Wheeler), and his porn addiction.  His wife heads out to a religious retreat.  His skeezy buddy convinces him to call this call-girl, who is of course Lilith.  They have sex. A lot of sex. Lilith kills him. Madison, his wife, comes home and finds his dead body posed like Baphomet.  Det. Carson investigates this murder too.

The last story deals with a serial killer Frank (played by Frank Tryon) and he kidnaps Melissa (Kimberly Roswell).  He brings her to his home where he has been torturing her.  Frank is remembering all the women he killed (and their shoes) and is getting ready to dismember a still living Melissa when there is a knock on the door.  It is Lilith (no shock).  Frank tries to drug her, but Lilith manages to switch the drug to Frank's drink. Lilith proceeds to torture him, but sets him free.  Melissa shows up behind him and shoves the drill into him.  Lilith then rips out Frank's heart.   As expected Det. Carson shows up.

The connecting scenes between the stories deal with Det. Carson and a priest trying to trap Lilith, but it is obvious there are in way over their heads.  It is also the least interesting of the tales. 

The makeup effects are kind cool and Lilith is played in each story by a different actress. I admit this is what drew me to the movie to start with. Some of the actors were good, many were only ok.  It was still a fun little romp.  I do love a nice horror anthology.

Lilith' Hell (2017)

This one is a little odd.  It is filmed as a point of view movie staring the "filmmaker" Ruggero Deodato as himself and two others to film a horror movie. I say "filmmaker" since he is playing himself and he is the filmmaker in the movie, the actual director is Vincenzo Petrarolo. Though Ruggero Deodato is an actual director, just not in this one.  He is most famous for "Cannibal Holocaust." This movie is a nod to that,  

The movie is taking place "just outside of Rome" and it is obvious that the filmmakers (in the movie) have no idea what they are doing. 

There is some security came footage, ala Paranormal Activity which could have been scary, but ends up just being tense.  The only scare comes when Marco hides under the bed of the actresses (everyone has to share) and then reaches up to grab Michelle's leg.  Everyone then tries to go back to sleep. Michelle wakes up startled and walks around the house.  She finds Marcond Alberto in the pool and seems to warm up to them. That is until she bites off Alberto's penis. Ryans and Sara find them and start freaking out.  Michelle is nowhere to be found and Alberto is dead.   They find Michelle but she seems all possessed.  She screams, but it sounds like an animal and the security cameras go all weird. 

They stumble into another room that is covered in drawings and runes that look demonic.  The room is connected to the security room where all the cameras are.  They also find the body of Marco's grandmother.  Of course, Ryan is freaking out, but not because of the deaths or the evil room, but because what is they are filming now is better than his movie.  

They find a camera on the ground and play the SD card on it.  There are robbed people in the evil room and they performing a seance to summon Lilith.   She appears to possess the young woman in the video. The men in the video get terrified and try to stop Lilith and Marco's grandmother, but they all end up killing each other, leaving the possessed girl tied up in the room.  They realize she is still there, and she begins to scream.   It looks like the girl, Linda, is ok, and in pain, and only Sara seems to understand what is going on.  She demands that they tie her up since Lilith can possess her.  Though in their excitement to find a phone and call the priest they let Sara loose.

Credit to Manuela Stanciu who plays Michelle as a vapid actress wanting drugs, to a scared woman, to a demon-possessed monster.  Her exorcism scene is quite good.  Joelle Rigollet also does a great job as Sara, the make-up artist that knows a lot about Lilith.  Speaking of make-up, her running and smeared mascara is a great touch. 

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What do these all have in common?  Well, they get a lot of it right at least in terms of popular cultural understanding of Lilith.  In two of the three cases, priests are unable to exorcise her.  In the 2017 movie, he says it is because she is Sumerain and can't be removed.  She can charm with her eyes and get men to do what she wants.  She only possesses women, but that might be a personal preference.   When she does her eyes turn yellow or gold. 

None of the movies were "great" but all were fun and I honestly enjoyed them all. 

October 2021
Viewed: 41
First Time Views: 28

BlackStar: Whispers in the Outer Darkness

Soon after I posted my discussion on Aliens and Horror for use in sci-fi horror and in BlackStar in particular I found a wealth of information.  Here are the fruits of those findings.

Whisperer in the Outer Darkness

I see this as the "second" episode of the season after the two-parter "The Stars Are Right" that introduces the Cthulhuoid Horrors we share space with. 

The crew gets new orders from Starfleet.  They are to pick up a professor Alyson Wilmarth.  While setting up a new subspace relay on Pluto the Starfleet Corp of Engineers uncover two startling discoveries.  The first is the remains of a Tellarite survey team that dates back to the early 20th Century, circa 1930-31.  The second is what the Tellarite's were investigating.  The remains of a small outpost of any unknown civilization that dates back to 12 million years ago.  Among the remains are a frozen Danuvius guggenmosi, a human ancestor from the Miocene.   Artifacts from the civilization bear a resemblance to other artifacts found on Earth in the Andes, Appalachians, and Himalayas mountain ranges.  Dr. Wilmarth is an expert on these.

Naturally, Starfleet contacted Tellar Prime about this to see what they knew, and maybe figure out what they were doing on Pluto in the 1930s.  This puts Dr. Wilmarth in contact with Dr. Akeley, her counterpart in the Tellarite College of Exoarcheology.  Dr. Wilmarth was scheduled to take a sabbatical and head to Tellar Prime when the term was done.  Dr. Akeley, in typical Tellarite fashion claims he can't wait for her and takes their data and heads out to a remote system he thinks has the answers.

Once on Tellar Prime, we learn that the Tellarite name for Pluto is Yuggoth, though they claim that name was not one they made up, but what they were able to decipher.  Much like Earth, there is evidence of this unknown species having lived on Tellar Prime, the 5th planet on the 61 Cygni/Tellar system.  The Tellarites wanted to know how artifacts from Yuggoth got to Tellar Prime.

The crew, with Dr. Wilmarth still in tow, head out for the remote system discovered by Dr. Akeley.

<<I'll add some bits about getting to the planet, the tech on the planet here.>>

They discover Dr. Akeley, but he is acting with a flat affect is very polite to everyone (should be a dead giveaway that something is wrong).  He claims to have been in contact with the civilization, the Mi-Go, and they are friendly and only wish to share their secrets of over 70 million years of space travel with the Federation.  Akeley of course has stayed hidden in the shadows this whole time.  When he is confronted they will discover the entire back of his skull has been opened and "scooped" out.  His brain and eyes are gone.  The look is similar to the original Tellarite masks on The Original Series that made their eyes look like they were missing.  Only a tiny device is left in his otherwise empty skull.  It is apparently "piloting" the body.

Here the ship is attacked by Mi-Go.  They can't appear on sensors and are only known by the gravity they displace when they land on any deck with artificial gravity. 

I am certainly going to use some ideas from Forbidden World even if it is just to model a Mi-Go creature from the movie poster.  I like the idea of a human/Mi-Go hybrid that can talk.  Maybe it will have Dr. Akeley's or even Dr. Wilmarth's face.  Recreate the poster art, but not the movie, Galaxy of Terror.

I still need to come up with a resolution for this. What do the Mi-Go want? How does the crew "defeat" them? Still need to work out those details as well.

This will be a good test of Star Trek Adventures mixed with Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 both from Mōdiphiüs.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Demoniacs (1974) and Red Scream Vampyres (2009)

Every year I try to work in at least one Jean Rollin film. They are usually not great but usually fairly fun. Tonight's choice is one that has also been on my list for a bit and thanks to fine folks at Redemption, I now have my own copy.

The Demoniacs (1974)

We begin the movie with an introduction to a group of "Wreckers" I guess these were people that would shine lights out into the sea at night to "wreck" ships on the rocks and steal their cargo.  The Captain, Le Bosco, Paul, and the "beautiful but perverted" Tina.

After a recent wrecking, two young women survive and come to shore where they are brutalized by the Wreckers.  

The crew heads to the village brothel to drink, and the Captain gets all weird and paranoid.  They decide to go back to the wreck and kill the women.  They set fire to ship but never find the bodies.

The girls, believed to be dead, make a deal with the Devil, who is locked in an old castle for some reason, to have the power they need to get revenge.   Of course to give them the power he has to have sex with them.

Though I am not exactly what power he gives them.  They find the Wreckers, but it seems they are brutalized some more and all six die in the end.

Well.  I suppose it could have been worse. It could have been Jeunes filles impudiques, aka Schoolgirl Hitchhikers, which was just dreadful.

Red Scream Vampyres (2009)

Caught this one streaming after I was done with the Demoniacs BluRay.  Needed something a little newer. Well. I am really disappointed and should have gone to bed instead. 

Earlier I was complaining about the "Daughters of the Craft" movies. Well, I'd take the worst Craft remake here over this bottom basement "Vampyres" remake. I have seen terrible remakes of Vampyers before, this one is unwatchable.

October 2021
Viewed: 38
First Time Views: 25

October Horror Movie Challenge: 5ive Girls (2006)

I am not going into this one with very high hopes.  It deals with demons, witches, and Ron Perlman.  

5ive Girls (2006)

The movie begins with Ron Perlman as Father Drake.  He is the teacher of a Catholic girl's school, St. Marks.  One of his students, Elizabeth, is drawing a scene from the Bible where Jesus casts out the Legions of demons (is Legion the number or the name? Sunday school was a long ass time ago).  Anyway, while Drake is talking to some students, Elizabeth starts to hear voices.  Soon the door slams shut and she begins hearing the voices of demons.  Drake finally gets into the room, but Elizabeth is gone, leaving only blood.

Five years later, the school reopens with just only five students and recovering drunk Father Drake.  The newest girl, Alex, is a witch with TK and can hear voices coming from nowhere. She also sees Elizabeth walking around the halls.  The other girls also experience strange happenings.  Leah passes through a filing cabinet.  Cecilia is blind but has second sight. Connie is a Wiccan.  Not sure what Mara does other than being a pain in the ass.  No, actually her power is healing by touch. 

Former student and current head Mistress, Miss Anna Pearce played by Amy Lalonde, also can see Elizabeth.  She tells her she is trying to help her.

We get typical Catholic School Girl shenanigans. Spanking with a ruler, girls sneaking off to smoke, breaking into the third floor.  While there they find a pentagram in a magic circle. At the same time, Miss Pearce is casting a diabolic spell to try and free Elizabeth with the other five girls as the sacrifices. 

Elizabeth, or a demon, is summoned and lands in Connie, but Mara is able to heal her.   Alex discovers a book belonging to Elizabeth. 

The next day a possessed Connie tries to kill Leah and then vomits a bunch of demons into her.  The girls realize right away that Leah is possessed. Leah confronts Father Drake and he tries to exorcise her, but she stabs him with the crucifixes instead.  We learn that Miss Pierce is Elizabeth's sister. 

Legion jumps from girl to girl, killing them along the way. 

The ending is kind of neat with the demon made of blood. But otherwise fairly derivative and predictable. 

About the cover. In this movie when you get possessed your eyes don't go all black, but all white.

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Ok, I think I need to create a category of movie, Daughters of the Craft.  These are movies made after 1996 with teen witches, usually four, sometimes five. One should be good and one should be evil, or at least misunderstood. The filmmakers obviously loved the Craft and thought that was the movie they wanted to make.  I'll go back and see which ones fit it. 

October 2021
Viewed: 36
First Time Views: 23