Bij je ondergang sister Venus (Jaidyn Triplett) is which tells the viewer how Jazmin Price (Samantha Russell) has agreed to rescue her sibling from her messy environment only if after having a deep look at her village and the charming folklore describing their ancestors, the younger sister feels the need to go far. Its anthology time folks, which is reminds me of all the good things in life, this one is about the LGBTQ+ society, people of color, so I was looking forward to writer director Parker Brennon coming up with something original and special for the portmanteau pic.
In that sense, I am angry and very annoyed that Hauntology does not only pass the opportunity to bring some real freshness into the subgenre but even misses some understanding of those magical elements which bring a glow to such a format. The outline is there: Mother device; four-time frames from the past (with an epilogue consisting of the sisters completing a last assigned task at the schedule); some hint of the audience with the presence of Nancy Loomis, Naomi Grossman and Samantha Robinson. Trouble is, the parts of the execution seem to get rather awkwardly disappointing at very vital stages.
The concept of a town and a family’s past haunted sounds interesting and even more interesting is the thought of outcasts coming back to seek for justice, but every example of it, is so mundane that the audience is left wondering what was the point of each storyline except to illustrate that straight white people had it too good even back then and still have it too good now. It’s a commendable message but it doesn’t achieve its goal because the content is often quite dull.
There seems to be a feeling that the individual segments could have benefitted from a deeper rewrite. There is always the seed of a good idea but it never grows and there seems to be an urgency to an ending that is so poorly articulated that at more than one point, I was startled when the movie switched back to the sisters’ road to the next scene. When a viewer is wondering how such a piece can finish or wow, that is just horrible as such pieces do not fulfill the requirement of being memorable or closure of any relevance. The short format is very ripe for a nice big bang of an ending and I am sorry to say that Hauntology never even comes close to providing that bang.
It’s fair to say that in the first vignette Witchcraft Becomes Her
the likeable Grossman and Julian (Ace Rosas then Zoey Luna) who is newly a witch have good on-screen dynamics as they fight against evil forces. However, because the metaphor for trans acceptance is so shallow, it would have been interesting to see how the dynamics are built as opposed to the fact that there is a demon who with very little effort is able to be defeated and I was expecting a comeback later on that never came.
Second up, The Day Mabel Came Out Of The Grave widens to the perspective of a couple called Iris and Jade who reminiscence their troubled relationship. Jade heads to Mabel Bishop’s grave, who was a proud lesbian and met her end at the hands of a 19th century bigot, whom she calls ‘The Man With A Hat.’ Is it really ‘The Man With A Hat,’ or ‘The Man In The Hat’, or am I watching too much of Dr Seuss? Anyway, with all the hissing around him, he had to look pale. He could not be whiter. I suppose that was the intention. From the title, I was somewhat hoping for the much potential due to Wild Card including Emilio Miraglia’s giallo co-writer in the crazy world of 1971, but ended up thinking that it was too insignificant. It sort of drags itself back for the totally unneccessary sequel in case one was left wondering what happened to one of the main characters.
The giallo overtones further deepen in Paint And Black Rash where business and life partners Shane and Owen plan to steal the so-called lost paintings of legendary artist May Felner only to find their partners being systematically picked off by a man in black gloves. It does have the benefits of a couple of vicious murders over some witty repartee among supporting cast and does add to the enjoyment that I have been looking for in other parts of the movie and it also has the beautiful Samantha Robinson in as great form as always.
In the last story, reporter Madeline Ishii (Lindsey McDowell) on active duty goes through The Old Dark Cashel House and ends up confronting the previous, bigot, racist male with a hat who is upset with her phone conversation. This allows the film to include a jump scare that is well executed but completely predictable, but the main plot is just an introduction to the last part of the story, where the sisters try to defeat the Hat Man before he touches Venus with his invisible hands, which is a nice reversal of the opening verse.
To me, Hauntology is a film that serves a purpose to draw in the kind of viewers who would typically avoid queer content. In monkeying with these elements, I do comprehend the level of messaging that has to be toned down, however, this seems to be the reason for a movie that appeared to me, at least, very uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating diversity. You will, undoubtedly, enjoy the film and form your own opinions on this one, as you have always done. Rather, I only wish there was more to advocate it.
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