House of the Wizard's Blackened Soul is the latest horror film from unique filmmaker Dakota Ray (Prince of the Crimson Void, Dante's Shadow of Sin), and is a return to his short film roots. I have always enjoyed his dark and depraved atmospheric films, but I guess that absence (or should that be absinthe?) really does make the heart grow fonder, as I found myself really in the mood for watching this latest horror. All the familiar tell-tale marks of Ray's style of filmmaking are in abundance here, but it brings with it a weirdly comforting feel of being wrapped in a warm, if bloody blanket.
Ray stars as Gideon, a psychopathic alcoholic who has decided to 'look after' his near comatose elderly grandfather (Sebastian Oake - Sebastian's Unholy Flesh, American Antichrist) at his home. With the property falling to Gideon when his grandfather passes, the man is more than happy to speed up that process. While there is no one to stop Gideon from carrying out his sinister plan, his inner demons and perhaps the malice of the property, conspire to make sure things won't go as smoothly as he would have hoped.
All the usual trappings of Ray's are present here, from his central role as a psychopathic character, to lingering camera shots on scenery, absinthe drinking, animal and bug corpses being stamped on, and a chosen filter colour that the whole film will be bathed in (this time an orangey black and white). This was all familiar, but also welcome, with there being atmosphere in abundance. There is a strong Gothic vibe here, with repeated shots of a full moon, and a perfect feel that this could easily be taking place in some sort of hellish afterlife, rather than the real world. Occasionally with Ray's feature length films I have felt that there is a bit too much time spent slowly focussing on background scenery, but here, with a twenty seven minute runtime, this process is streamlined.
Despite a shorter runtime, this didn't feel like it raced along. Not a complaint as the dark atmosphere here was very well realised. Though this does have a cast of three, it may as well just be the character of Gideon, as the wheelchair bound grandfather character doesn't say a word the whole short, while the only other character is The VHS Butcher (S. Donatello), who only really appears on the snuff films that Gideon is obsessed with. Ray carries the film effortlessly, he may play a very similar character type that he plays in his other films, but it was a captivating performance. I really liked shots such as the close-up of Gideon's cruel smiles, and the lingering shots of scenery, such as religious imagery which had a mood all of their own. If I had any complaints, it would be that the story gets wrapped up rather swiftly once it reaches its conclusion, with the epilogue represented by a screen of text, rather than actually shown on screen.
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I have always appreciated Ray's style of darkly artistic filmmaking. These are always mood pieces that use a simple story to craft a nightmarish void that oozes atmosphere. House of the Blackened Soul is another great example of these types of films, another example of a relatively slow-burn done correctly.
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