Available to buy in the UK via digital download from Monday 29th May is the low budget horror-thriller, The Resurrection of Charles Manson. The movie – directed by Remy Grillo – stars Katherine Hughes, Josh Plasse, Will Peltz, and Frank Grillo, and follows the story of a young couple, who find themselves caught up in a mysterious plot.
In the movie, Tianna and her boyfriend, Mitch, head out into Yucca Valley, California, to create an audition tape for an up-and-coming movie about notorious criminal and cult leader, Charles Manson. Tianna is an aspiring actress, while Mitch is keen to help his girlfriend land her big break, and they want the perfect backdrop for the tape.
Mitch also has an ulterior motive, which he has planned into the trip. Once the screen test is shot, he aims to propose to Tianna and celebrate the occasion.
But shortly after arriving at their destination, things don’t seem quite right. Strange symbols keep appearing outside the home they have rented, and Mitch starts to get a bad feeling about the trip.
Before long, the couple find themselves at the heart of a sinister situation. But is everything what it appears to be?
The Resurrection of Charles Manson is a strange little movie, in that it essentially feels like a film of two halves. The first half of the movie plays very much like a riff on gritty, old school horror films such The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, while the second half delves into the occult and becomes something else.
There is a lot of set-up during that first half, but very limited pay-off in the second. It certainly had me to begin with, but after a while it sort of lost me. At no point is the movie particularly bad, but it isn’t that great either. This is a slow-moving film, which never quite feels like it goes anywhere, so it largely fails to satisfy.
On a more positive note, this is director Remy Grillo’s first feature film, and what is presented here does show a lot of promise. The tone, the mood, and the setting all work fine, and from time-to-time the picture does have its moments.
The main sticking point is that the story isn’t as well-developed as it needs to be, and the film isn’t quite as tight either. Although The Resurrection of Charles Manson clocks in at a very lean 75-minutes, it still feels more drawn out than it needs to be.
A touch more editing and a slightly stronger script would help, and then this film would easily pass over the line. All the elements are here, including a decent cast, it just doesn’t quite catch in the right way.
So, a bit of a mixed bag, and certainly a film with potential, but The Resurrection of Charles Manson isn’t half as good as it could be. Grillo is on the right track, and die-hard horror fans may find this appealing, but it needs more blood, more gore, and a little more focus.
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