Spell

Spell
Starring Omari Hardwick, Loretta Devine, John Beasley, Lorraine Burroughs
Directed by Mark Tonderai

Many people have heard the ancient religion of Voodoo, but there's a lesser-known spiritual religion known as Hoodoo, and they're sometimes mixed together, yet couldn't be more separate.  The practice of Hoodoo is an combination of different spiritual disciplines, traditions and beliefs created by African slaves in North America, and is a mixture of African, European and indigenous folk practices.  There's some similarities with Voodoo, but it's a distinctly different religion.  "Spell" is a film that uses Hoodoo in its plot in a negative way, despite most practitioners practicing the religion in a peaceful, loving way, but still allows the general populous to know that this special type of religion exists.

Marquis Woods (Omari Hardwick) is a successful businessman who is still haunted by nightmares of his abusive father as they grew up in Appalachian Kentucky.  When he receives word that his father passed away, he takes his wife Veora (Lorraine Burroughs), daughter Samsara (Hannah Gonera), and son Tydon (Kalifa Burton) to Kentucky for the funeral by flying a private airplane.  Along the way the plane crashes and Marquis wakes up wounded in an attic bed belonging to a seemingly loving older couple - Eloise (Loretta Devine) and Earl (John Beasley). 

Marquis doesn't get any information from Eloise about his family, only that he can't get to a hospital because they're so far removed that it would take too long to get there, and there's no cell phone service.  Suspicious, Marquis manages to escape the room and discover that Eloise is the leader of an evil Hoodoo cult that has sinister intentions for Marquis unless he can find a way to escape and find what happened to his family.

"Spell" had a lot going for it that could've made it something spectacular.  There's hints of a Jordan Peele-esque take on African American society today as well as the ancient practices they participated in.  There's almost direct comparisons to Stephen King's classic novel "Misery."  There's even a familial homicidal group akin to "The Hills Have Eyes."  Yet the film becomes muddied with the traditional kidnap tropes that've been done to death in other films, and while "Spell" does include some truly shocking and violent moments, they're few and far between, and all the while leaving you feeling like you've seen this done better somewhere else.

The film basically stars only two people, and their performances are about as adequate as the rest of the film.  Omari Hardwick plays Marquis with a decent mix of intelligence and bravery, who doesn't allow for Eloise's lies to go unnoticed.  He's a strong male lead in a horror film which is a rarity, as most of the time it's a female in the lead role.  Likewise, Loretta Devine plays a brilliant villain in Eloise, a role that's usually designed for a man (with the exception of aforementioned Annie Wilkes).  She plays the role as a woman with deadly secrets that lie just below the surface, and appears to be nice and kind but you know that it's all a facade as she slowly unravels her master plan.  Unfortunately, her character was so thinly written that she never comes as a fully functioned character, but the small characterization she did get she plays to perfection.

It seems that "Spell" is fine with sticking to the traditional tropes of horror films past - from the creepy out-of-the-way gas station with the dire warnings from creepy locals to old creaky floorboards and near-discoveries, there doesn't seem to be a trope missing, which is a shame because the film could've told a much better - and much more terrifying - story, but seemed to settle for the humdrum mediocrity.  There's moments where you think the film is going to make some grandiose statement about the success of an African American man in the midst of an all-white majority, but that gets abandoned for the sake of horror.  There's times where you squirm with the tortures Marquis faces (especially a particular nail in a particular body part reminiscent of the classic Annie Wilkes bashing her captor's ankles), but again it all feels hollow.  Even the ending comes with a soft blow despite the violence, and even has a moment of unintentional humor where I found myself giggling when I knew I shouldn't have.

While trying to cast its spell on the audience, "Spell" instead lulls the audience into a near-sleep status, delivering the traditional tropes that've been done in better films and providing a so-so satisfactory conclusion that's neither terrible nor great - just there.

The Score: C+