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[Lo]
Plot:Love presents many challenges to couples...but none so daunting as the one Justin faces with his girlfriend April. Kidnapped by demons, April's mystery begins to unfold when he finds an ancient book that she has left behind. Using the book, he contacts the demon Lo, ordering it to help him rescue his girl from the fiery pits. But Lo has other plans for his new master...dinner being one of them.
Cast:Jeremiah Birkett,
Sarah Lassez,
Ward Roberts,
Devin Barry,
Aaron Gaffey.
My Thoughts:Fantastic film!
Review:"Lo", is an indie pic from filmmaker Travis Betz. The movie follows a lovelorn man named Justin, who meets a girl named April, who he falls madly in love with very quickly. However, Justin is very naive, and totally oblivious to the fact that April has some..."questionable" habits and a an even more "questionable" past. One day, while Justin and April are together, a vicious green-skinned demon shows up, attacks Justin, and takes April back to hell with him.
The only thing that Justin has left of April's now, is a weird book which she told him to burn should anything ever happen to her. Justin however uses it instead, to conjure up the demon Lo, who he plans to request scour hell to find his true love April. But Justin's decision to do so, might have dire consequences, for Lo, a trickster, and a devourer of humans, seems more interested in tormenting Justin, rather than helping him. "Lo" is what the horror genre needs more of, something new, different, and refreshing.
The film is made on a low-budget, most of which was used for the creature/make up effects, which are pretty damn good. But the movie is set inside of an apartment for most of the duration. Although it switches scenes, you can tell the film never leaves the apartment set, but instead, just changes set pieces...kind of like a school play. But despite all of that, the story, performances, and characters are strong enough to keep the viewer intrigued and engrossed in the movie.
Looking beyond it's stalled-sceneries, and birage of in-the-dark scenes. Which take up most of the movie, yet fit with the films overall tone very well. The banter, and jedi-mind-tricks, so to speak, between Justin and Lo are one of the films more interesting collection of scenes. Justin at first, is terrified, scared, and intimidated by Lo, who's appearance alone is quite disturbing. But as the film goes on, the balance of power between Justin and Lo begins to shift, although it's a very slow process.
But an interesting one to watch nonetheless. As far as the actors are concerned, Ward Roberts plays Justin, while Jeremiah Birkett dawns the demon makeup as Lo. Never heard of either of these guys before, but both play their roles very well, and hopefully the genre will see more of these guys in the next couple of years. Sarah Lassez as April is also very likeable. The film, which is strong occult horror, also succeeds in being a "smart-horror" venture. As it's really a psychological horror film, where the two main characters play a mental chess game that has more dire consequences for Justin, should he lose the game, more than it does for Lo.
But at the same time, the film also humanizes Lo somewhat, making him out to be more of a tortured demon of sorts. Not really a vicious, malevolent one, although his vicious malevolent nature certainly still exists. The film, also penned by Betz, aims to make Lo a much more complicated character than normal. The movie offers up many different story caviats as well, considering you don't really know how it's all gonna end. The film builds a lot of suspense, offers many different twists, and is also a journey of discovery as well.
While Justin pines to have April back, his one true love...the demon Lo, along with the demon that grabbed her away from Justin, and attacked and nearly killed him in the process...clue Justin in on April's past prior to her meeting Justin, and many things he doesn't know about her. Thus Justin's love for April is sorely tested, leading to a finale where hard decisions are made, and in the end, with Justin, April, Lo, and others...all involved in this game of sorts, not everyone gets what they want when it's all said and done.
I thought the ending fit the movie perfectly myself, and genre fans should enjoy the conclusion for many different reasons, if not for it's straight-forward approach alone. "Lo" is a new take on the demon/occult subgenre. The movie blends dark humor, disturbing monsters, a dark story, and a bunch of tragic characters...into one well-played piece of indie cinema.
Positives:Great performances by Lassez, Roberts, and Birkett. Great creature/makeup effects, great use of dark humor, an effective script, and a good ending.
Negatives:The ending is something I might've changed, it had some issues. The end result of what Justin did, I felt he deserved more than what he got. Then again, the ending does make sense technically.
Overall:Three and a half out of four stars.
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