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I'll be honest - I don't know what the hell was going on during most of The Redeemer, but I know I sure did love it. Although the plot sounds like a rather straightforward slasher (in fact, "the killer staging a fake reunion to lure classmates back" thing has been done a few times since), but it's anything but.
It begins with a little boy rising from a lake and hoping aboard a bus to church (as one does) and joins the choir as a priest with two thumbs(?) gives a rousing fire and brimstone speech about damnation. In between these bits, we see a man (never see his face) walk into a school with a briefcase, kill the caretaker, and make a mold of his face. Confused yet? The man begins slicing into an old yearbook and, as he does, we get to meet several former classmates and see what they're up to now. One is a lawyer, one is a glutton, a slutty barfly, a lesbian, a bitchy gay actor, and we have one who's so rich that she likes to shoot birds for entertainment.
According to this priest, they're all sinners and deserve to die. Did I mention that it turns out this priest is the same man who killed the caretaker and made a mask of his face? Why did he do this? Well, to put it on and fool all these people that there really is a high school reunion going on.
Once he gets everyone inside, he locks and bars the doors and windows, so there's no chance of escape. People start putting two and two together and figure out they were called her under sketchy circumstances. Pretty soon, ol' priesty is dressing up like a clown, a hunter, and even the grim reaper himself to kill these people off one by one.
This is probably the most straightforward part of the film (and the must substantial), but even this feels askew and dreamlike (in the best way). I don't know if it's because of the quirky prologue and epilogue it's sandwiched in between or what, but this film really does feel like someone's horrible nightmare.
The Redeemer has interesting cinematography, a good cast, phenomenally creepy music score, atmosphere out the ass, and a genuinely creepy villain. Give this one a watch!
score 9/10
molemandavid 3 July 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3745434/ |
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24-2-2021 04:55:13