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| Pictures Courtesy of Lake Productions |
The Sasquatch genre of film is a diverse grouping of chilling horror, hilarious parody, and heartfelt family focused entertainment. Jon Garcia's latest offering is an interesting foray into the Bigfoot mythos, an artful approach to overdone material that not only showcases what a modern creature feature is capable of but also how emotion and heartbreak are essential ingredients for any good scary story. Featuring an intriguing premise, a unique visual approach, and a soulful screenplay that explores the material in a unique manner, Summoning the Spirit is one of the most original horror films of the year thus far.
Carla and Dean decide to escape the everyday hustle and
bustle of big city life and purchase a house in the deep country, hoping to
salvage a struggling relationship. After an unthinkable tragedy, they quickly
find out that their neighbors are a somewhat benign cult, who worship the
spirits of nature and claim they have a connection to a Spirit that haunts the
surrounding woods, a connection that holds the key to Carla and Dean's
salvation, or their eternal damnation. Garcia and Zach Carter's
script takes a different path in bringing the viewer towards the horror.
Comparisons to Midsommar are inevitable, however the lower budget
ambiance combines with an unusual approach to create a post-hipster new age
blending that masks the inevitability of the dread to come.
Kevin Forrest's elegiac cinematography houses
everything within an open-air prison of natural light and environs. The
way the film is shot is perhaps its strongest advantage, as Forrest bifurcates
the light choked interior of the cultists’ compound with the preternatural darkness
of the forest. Folk horror, rhythm, and cadence are interwoven to present
the central couple's dilemma as both a means to heal wounds of the past and as
a confrontation as modern sensibilities and dreams face off with ancient
prophecies and animalistic nightmares.
Now available for digital streaming, Summoning the Spirit is a fresh,
intelligent take on a genre that continues to improve with each new
offering. Using lessons from other genre staples and a capable cast and
crew, Garcia has crafted a new age monster movie with arthouse sensibilities.
While loss and acceptance are the central themes, the final product is an
interesting meditation on moving forward and having faith in the unknown.
Brutal violence and poignant twists are the trappings of this
remarkable labor of love, which winds its way into the subconscious and never
relents.
--Kyle Jonathan