Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: DW Medoff
Starring: Kenneth Trujillo, Katerina Eichenberger, Christopher Genovese, Emma Anne Wedemeyer, Kimberly Maxwell
Stories revolving around people accepting a challenge of spending a night
or more in a supposedly haunted house are practically as old as the horror
genre itself. With his second feature,
I Will Never Leave You Alone, writer/director DW Medoff delivers a fresh spin on this premise,
one which goes a long way to avoiding the question viewers inevitably find
themselves asking during such movies - "Why don't you leave the
house?"
After serving five years for an ambiguous crime, Richard (Kenneth Trujillo, a hybrid of George Clooney and Tom Sizemore) is released early for good
behaviour. There's a catch though. Richard must take a job working for a
real estate agent, and if he fails to perform his required duty he'll be
straight back in the slammer. This is no typical real estate firm however,
but one that specialises in flipping haunted homes (this is actually a
genuine growing industry in the superstitious US). Richard is tasked with
spending six days inside a home with a sinister reputation, the details of
which he isn't initially made privy to, lighting a set of candles each day
at dusk to exorcise the home of any lingering spirits. If he makes it
through all six days he'll be paid $5,000. If not he'll be on the first bus
back to the big house. Once inside, Richard doesn't have much choice as he's
locked in by the realtor (Kimberly Maxwell).
Almost immediately Richard is disturbed by things going bump both day and
night. He sees visions that might be dismissed as tricks of the light, but
as they become more explicit Richard realises he is indeed sharing his
temporary lodgings with something supernatural. But whatever demons are in
the house aren't as disturbing to Richard as the ones in his head. Through
flashbacks we see the disintegration of his marriage to Emma (Katerina Eichenberger) as he falls into a spiral of alcoholism and gambling. Things get worse
when the couple have a child and Emma succumbs to post-partum depression,
left alone at night while Richard gets drunk and flitters away their
savings.
As the flashbacks become more ominous we begin to realise why Richard bears
a nasty scar on his throat, which has destroyed his vocal cords. With a mute
protagonist, much of I Will Never Leave You Alone plays out
sans dialogue. Some backstory is filled in by Mike (Christopher Genovese), a friendly handyman who occasionally pops by to have one-side
conversations with Richard through a window, but aside from the flashbacks
Trujillo is required to communicate his brittle emotions non-verbally. It's
an impressive, essentially dual performance. The angry drunk we see in
Richard's memories and the sullen mute we now find at his lowest ebb are
almost two entirely different people, the former reprehensible while the
latter earns our sympathy through his silent pain.
Unspoken grief and trauma can eat away at a person's soul, and men are
notorious for keeping such things to themselves. Given his state, Richard's
torment is literally kept unspoken, but in Mike, who has his own demons, he
finds a kindred restless spirit. As Mike details his own anguish we see a
look of hope on Richard's face for the first time as he realises he isn't
alone in his grief. If you watch
I Will Never Leave You Alone for the shocks and scares, you'll
be taken aback by its moving portrayal of men tortured by the bundled knots
of pain they're unable to release.
While Medoff's film is surprisingly touching, it's first and foremost a
horror movie, one that goes to some shockingly dark places. That we grow to
care about Richard makes the story's various awful twists and revelations
all the more impactful. The spirit Richard is menaced by in the house is
that of a woman tortured in the belief that she was a witch. Like Richard,
we feel sorry for the old crone but we also recognise her as a threat.
Spilling the details of what he believes to be mere legend, Mike ponders why
nobody ever asked the witch if she was okay rather than tormenting her, and
we're left to wonder how many tragedies might have been avoided if those
responsible had been asked the same question.
I Will Never Leave You Alone is on
Arrow Player from March 10th.
