By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring Landry Bender, Madison Lintz and Jake Weber
Directed by Erik Bloomquist
Written by Erik Bloomquist and Carson Bloomquist
Cineverse
Say this for the team of writer/director/producer Erik Bloomquist and writer/producer Carson Bloomquist: They never make the same kind of horror film twice. Following the psychological suspenser LONG LOST, the vampire film TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT, the summer-camp survival-horror opus SHE CAME FROM THE WOODS and the politically tinged slasher FOUNDERS DAY, they now tackle cults with SELF-HELP–though the leader of this particular group, Curtis Clark (Jake Weber), would argue that his aims are “anti-cult.”
Among the people who head out for a weekend retreat with this self-proclaimed “Truth Ambassador” are college students Olivia (Landry Bender) and her best friend Sophie (Madison Lintz, THE WALKING DEAD’s Sophia all grown up). A prologue in which little Olivia’s birthday celebration goes awry thanks to a very misbehaved clown (who sounds just like Seth Rogan) establishes she’s got quite a bit of psychological baggage to deal with, not to mention that her father is dead and she hasn’t seen her mother in quite some time. It doesn’t help when her mom, now going by her middle name Rebecca (Amy Hargreaves), turns out to not only be one of Clark’s followers, but now his wife as well.
That opening sequence comes to a surprising conclusion, and a subsequent scene with Olivia and Sophie at an airport ends with a funny little fakeout. Bender and Lintz establish a sweet, supportive relationship between the two girls, and it all sets the table for a movie that doesn’t always go where you expect while keeping you engaged throughout. It’s more dramatically oriented than an all-out horror show (though the scary stuff definitely lands), and also more psychologically ambitious than the Bloomquists’ previous movies.
Clark’s other devotees, who are introduced wearing freaky masks and each have his or her own need for life improvement, are Andy (Blaque Fowler), Joanne (Carol Cadby), Steve (Adam Weppler) and Owen (played by Erik Bloomquist himself). One of them doesn’t last long, as Clark demonstrates that he will brook no deviation from his rules even as he encourages them to explore different approaches to dealing with their issues (his term for this is “radical autonomy”). Weber is quite effective in presenting Clark’s manipulative side, especially when he quietly, emotionally dominates one of them when they decide they need to leave before the weekend is over.
This is perhaps the film’s most disturbing section, and there are other discomfiting, more explicitly horrific moments in which self-help becomes self-harm, with graphic makeup effects by Julia Gallimore. Needless to say, Olivia starts to have serious doubts about Clark’s methods, while Sophie sees the positive potential and Rebecca tries to convince Olivia that her and Clark’s way is the right one. Bender, Lintz and Hargreaves all give committed performances and play off each other well, and Bloomquist writes himself some strong moments, and puts them across affectingly, when Owen reveals why he’s at the retreat and a secret from his past is disclosed.
There are a few major revelations in SELF-HELP’s last half hour or so, and they’re not just gotchas but help deepen the characters’ relationships and the tensions between them. Even as the movie eschews a shock-a-minute approach for one that lets the situations breathe, the Bloomquists (who also edited) bring the film in at a tight 85 minutes, and to a very satisfying conclusion. With cinematography and production design by their regular collaborators Mike Magilnick and Shane Meador that belie the modest budget, SELF-HELP is another polished and well-judged entry in the brothers’ filmography. It’ll be interesting to see what corner of the horror genre they decide to explore next.
