Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. This one sounds pretty interesting and I like how enthusiastic El Giante is about it. I hope I'll be echoing this enthusiasm, the type you can only find at film festivals after seeing something that genuinely knocked your socks off (usually preceded by some disappointments), next week when Fantastic Fest gets going. Here's El Giante with the good word on Acolytes
Here’s another review for a great flick that will be up AICN reader’s alleys. Work sucks today after hitting midnight madness last night and getting caught in the rain after, but it was certainly worth it to catch Acolytes; a dark, well written Australian thriller. The film’s opening sequence is great, with a young girl running in the woods in her torn top & panties and leading up to her unfortunate demise before the titles. We then pick up following three teens (a couple, Chasely & Mark, and the best friend/third wheel James) lost in the ever expanding suburban wasteland. They head off to waste another day and after watching the couple making out for a little while James wonders off into the woods where he sees a man burying something. The trio returns later to find out what’s in the ground only to find the body of a Canadian backpacker (this went over very well with the Toronto crowd) and not the local girl from the beginning who’s gone missing. From here they use the knowledge and evidence of this killer as a tool to try and dispose of a character from their past. Generally it’s not a great idea for teenagers to try and blackmail a serial killer but then the movie would have been over pretty quickly and pretty anti-climactic. We have a pretty slow build up to get us acquainted with the characters and bring out facts in a believable pace but he game that ensues between the killer, the teens and the ghost from their past really comes together nicely in the end as the cards are all laid on the table. Discovering the hidden past and agendas of some of the characters adds a depth to the story that sets it apart from most of the tired thrillers out there. It’s a very well written story for the genre; there’s no major plot holes, overall it’s got a great flow and it avoids a number of more obvious steps. The teens are believable, the killer looks like he stepped out of the 70’s and there’s even kids being chased down by a maniac behind the wheel of a classic American muscle car. All the great elements of Aussie classics. It reminds me a fair bit of Frailty in pacing and presentation, a steady unfolding story with a very solid payoff in the end. Don’t expect a horror, but it certainly becomes a menacing film and is definitely worth checking out. Halfway through TIFF with some great ones to come from el gran norte blanco, El Giante
