katrinaolson.ca - KO Review of The Hexecutioners (CUFF 2016)

Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 01:30 PM

KO Review of The Hexecutioners (CUFF 2016)

Review by Katrina Olson-Mottahed x CalgaryMovies.com

A KO Review by Emily Mody

The Hexecutioners is a feature length horror film directed by Jesse Thomas Cook. The film follows Malison McCourt while she struggles adjusting to her new job at a company that conducts assisted-suicide. After a particularly traumatizing first day on the job her superior, Mr. Winston (played by Barry Flatman), suggests that she fulfill her next contract with the help of a more experienced employee, Olivia Bletcher (played by Sarah Power). The two women travel together to a remote estate. The estate is beautifully eerie and Malison is haunted from the moment they arrive by a compulsion to an unseen force. Malison and Olivia quickly realize that the client paid a large sum to Mr. Winston due to the fact that he had some unusual requests regarding his death.

For the most part, I would say I really enjoyed this film. I thought that the concept of a horror film based on assisted suicide was very intriguing. The film definitely kept my interest the entire way through, the actors were wonderful, and it was deliciously creepy. The only thing that I have against The Hexecutioners was that the plot was a little confusing at times. Sometimes certain scenes would also feel so unrealistic that I had actually convinced myself during the middle of them that they were a dream sequence. When I realized after the fact they were not dream sequences I was very surprised. Perhaps this was Cook’s intent, to give the film a more surreal quality. I am not sure that I liked this technique though even if this was the director’s intent. It felt too distracting to have moments that seemed so overly dramatic and unrealistic. When films maintain surrealist qualities I believe it only works when they are consistent with the rest of the film.

I would compare this film to The Skeleton Key directed by Iain Softley. Both films deal with themes surrounding mysterious spiritual practices. This practice is, in turn, thrust upon the outsiders of the story as a way to manage the supernatural entities that they are dealing with. In terms of how much I enjoyed both films these two are on equal par with each other. If you are a fan of horror, particularly horror films based around ritual practices then you would probably enjoy The Hexecutioners.

The Hexecutioners is a total of 95 minutes. In terms of content, the film contains gore, partial nudity, and horror violence. If any of these things offend you I would probably skip this one. The Hexecutioners is not your typical horror film but I think that people who are a fan of the horror genre in general will enjoy it. Just make sure you pay attention because otherwise certain aspects of the plot will probably slip right past you. The Hexecutioners will be screening as a part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF). It will be playing on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 10:15 pm at the Globe Cinema Upstairs.