Starring Matthan Harris, Rebecca Weaver, Dani Filth
Written & Directed by Matthan Harris
Cleopatra Entertainment
It is always a trip going into a new indie horror film. The possibility of watching something truly unique is always accompanied by the threat of witnessing an underdeveloped train wreck. More often than not, the outcome ends up being a middle-of-the-road miss – showing promise but ultimately falling short. Unfortunately, BAPHOMET, the upcoming release from writer/director Matthan Harris is a cluttered and often confusing outing.
Opening with a satanic ritual, a young woman is sacrificed at an altar surrounded by cult members overseen by Henrich Brandr (Giovanni Lombardo Radice), their sinister leader. Soon after, we are introduced to a pregnant woman, Rebecca (Rebecca Weaver), and her parents at their beautiful home in the country. A man arrives at their door and offers Rebecca’s dad (Colin Ward) a large amount of money for his house, which the father roundly rejects. Soon after, Rebecca’s husband (Matthan Harris) is killed in a freak shark attack, she miscarries, and her mother is dispatched by a rattlesnake bite, all in a two-day period. It is very apparent that these tragedies are directly related to the family’s refusal to sell their property.
Rebecca reaches out to a white witch high priestess for help while she and her father are stalked by the satanic cult, who are forced to sacrifice another woman when their initial attempts at overtaking the property fail. In a bloody showdown, the cult reveals their ultimate intentions to Rebecca and her father, resulting in more tragedy and a greater threat than mere mortals.
The satanic cult, whose goal is to aid in the rise of the demon Baphomet, target Rebecca and her family, but the correlation is purely coincidental. Leaving the story feeling disconnected and not fully formed. The demise of Rebecca’s husband, is a strangely shot scene that feels like it doesn’t belong. As the film continues there are many more issues like this that muddy the plot and logic of the narrative. There is an uneven balance of poor CGI and practical effects that can be distracting, and questionable editing choices throughout. There is a body exhumation and resurrection, dreams linking the satanic cult to Rebecca without any real explanation, and several plot holes that reveal a poorly crafted script more than anything else.
The issues in BAPHOMET are disappointing, as the acting is fine and the story has potential to take an interesting approach to the subject matter, but the end result falls very short of the glory of Baphomet.
BAPHOMET hits VOD platforms, DVD and Blu-ray June 8th, 2021 from Cleopatra Entertainment.
