BORNLESS ONES (2016)

Studio:       Uncork’d Entertainment
Director:    Alexander Babaev
Writer:       Alexander Babaev
Producer:  Devin Goodsell, Mariietta Volynska
Stars:     Margaret Judson, Devin Goodsell, Michael Johnston, Mark Furze, Bobby T, Svetlana Titova, Victoria Clare, Greg Travis, David Banks, Rob Tepper

Review Score:

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Summary:

A young woman caring for her crippled brother unknowingly awakens a demon that terrorizes a remote woodland cabin.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Having summoned a demon of Hell capable of healing infirmities, Dolores reaches for shotgun shells while surrounded by protective sigils in her remote woodland home. Already injured from a previous attack, Dolores confronts her possessed daughter Christina, who suffered from a heart condition, and dies.

Emily purchases Dolores’ cabin so she can have a place to care for her brother Zach Ferguson, who is crippled by cerebral palsy. Emily’s boyfriend Jesse, their friend Woodrow, and Woodrow’s pregnant girlfriend Michelle accompany the siblings to the cabin. Before moving in, they meet local gas station attendant Billy as well as realtor Richard Alonzo Jr. III.

After settling in and briefly celebrating, the friends discover Dolores’ sigils throughout the house. Emily researches the symbols online and learns about the healing demon. Woodrow intentionally breaks a table with one of the symbols.

That night, Emily has a nightmare involving bloody bodies writhing in sacks. In the morning, Zach is able to walk.

Dr. Waisenberg makes a house call to examine Zach. Astonished by Zach’s newfound mobility, Dr. Waisenberg drives Zach back to the nearby medical institute for further testing. Along the way, Zach murders the doctor while in a state of possession.

Thinking they are cleaning up, the four friends remove all of the symbols from the house. Emily finds spellbook pages written by Dolores along with a large sigil painted on a basement wall.

Zach returns home in a trance. He says, “they’re almost here” shortly before touching Michelle’s stomach and taunting her about a previous abortion. Jesse sees frightening figures standing among the trees outside.

Michelle runs to the bathroom and encounters a horrifying vision before vomiting a black substance. Voices say, “kill it” as Michelle points a pair of scissors at her belly.

Billy comes to the cabin to deliver beer. Emily, Jesse, and Woodrow watch in horror as a strange cloud envelops Billy.

Emily realizes Zach is possessed. Zach throws everyone’s phones into the fire so no one can call for help. Zach says, “they didn’t want anyone else to come” and collapses.

Michelle is found bleeding to death from her self-inflicted stab wound. In a state of possession, Michelle stabs Jesse in his cheek and then in his eye. Jesse fights back by stabbing Michelle in her head with a screwdriver.

Woodrow confronts a vision of Dennis, a high school classmate he bullied into suicide. Woodrow backs away and falls down a flight of stairs, puncturing his throat on a fireplace poker.

Once possessed, Woodrow attacks Jesse. Emily beats Woodrow off of her boyfriend with a log.

Jesse later faces a vision of Sarah, a former student of his who was murdered by her boyfriend after her affair with Jesse was uncovered. Emily intervenes as Jesse prepares to stab himself under Sarah’s coercion.

Emily tells Jesse she can stop what is happening by using Dolores’ spellbook. She and Jesse review Dolores’ writings and learn that the beings outside are called ‘The Guardians.’ The seven demons of Hell are only able to enter a human body if a person allows it inside for healing. Jesse realizes that is why the spirit is forcing them to hurt themselves. Dolores’ pages further warn to keep the house sealed. Emily realizes they broke the seal by removing the sigils.

Suddenly reanimated, Woodrow impales Jesse and attacks Emily. Emily kills Woodrow.

Emily finds Zach, now recovered from his possession, drawing sigils on pieces of paper. Jesse reanimates in a state of possession and stabs Emily. Emily fights back and impales Jesse a second time.

Emily uses her blood to begin attaching the symbol sheets to windows. A vision of Emily and Zach’s dead mother then confronts Emily and tries coercing her into killing her brother. Emily sees the demon for what it is and places another sigil instead. The demon is seemingly banished.

Jesse comes back to life and begs for help. Emily frees him and he attacks. Zach hits Jesse from behind with a wood plank. Emily tells Zach she can’t feel her legs.

Zach takes Emily, now paralyzed, outside in his wheelchair. Emily hears a demonic voice telling her she can be healed. However, Emily and Zach get into their car and leave.

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Review:

I’ll give “Bornless Ones” this much at a minimum.  The film follows a formula that won’t bowl over horror hounds hankering for fresh frights.  But it doesn’t pick the low road for its path, putting forward more creativity and competence than you’re likely to see in many like-minded affairs.

Five friends are on their way to a remote house in a forest.  I know what you’re thinking because I thought it too.  Particularly once the group predictably stops at a roadside gas station for a weirdo convo with an alcoholic redneck attendant.

Except here is what I mean about “Bornless Ones” not leaning on the easiest way out.  The setup is that good girl Emily needs a peaceful place to care for her palsy-afflicted brother Zach, with her boyfriend Jesse and another couple coming along for the ride.  Most movies would simply have the quintet rallying for a rager of a weekend in the woods and lazily leave it at that.  Zach’s condition is essential to how the plot unfolds, yet it’s still a unique and human touch on an otherwise pat premise.

It’s actually disappointing that there is a party montage of shot swigging and dancing in slow motion anyway.  Benefit of the doubt senses writer/director Alexander Babaev may be shoving in the scene out of mistaken obligation for what such films usually include, never mind that it isn’t needed.

What no one knows yet is that the previous owner died after summoning a demon to heal her dying daughter.  Things didn’t go as planned, as often happens when resorting to an agent of Hell for help.  The possessed little girl gruesomely murdered her mother and now Emily and the others are unwittingly positioned to make the same mistake.

When the friends find strange sigils drawn all over the house, they presume them to be trash and take the offending wood planks outside.  Of course, those symbols were the cabin’s last line of defense against the beings who soon start stalking outside.

Things initially look up when Zach is suddenly able to walk.  But the price to be paid for Zach’s miraculous mobility is possession.  Now an evil presence moves from person to person, forcing everyone to confront their darkest secrets so that they might cause themselves harm and allow the demon inside to heal.

“Bornless Ones” overcomes familiarity because legitimately professional actors pepper the cast.  No one is a huge name, yet they’ve all put in time on bigger sets and that level of experience shows.  Although award acceptance speeches don’t need to be drafted, there aren’t any slouches performing through a phone.  Even single scene players like David Banks as an over-caffeinated realtor and Greg Travis as the beer-brewing store clerk put panache into throwaway characters you should roll your eyes at, yet can’t because their sincerity forbids it.

Cast a film correctly, convince everyone to commit to their characters, and even a redundant horror film can emerge as entertaining.  That’s what “Bornless Ones” does and that’s why it works, mostly.

Sketchily-scripted background beats shakily hold the story together, though other details keep the movie from sputtering too much.  One inventive idea sees a demon, after possessing a body of broken bones, attaching splints to limbs with a power drill in order to walk again.  Imagery such as a pile of bloody demon babies wriggling in burlap sacks is suitably weird in a dementedly disturbing way.  While some tropes are tiresome, much effort remains on display to be appreciated throughout the film.

“Bornless Ones” is an example of how simple doesn’t have to be stale.  Investing a modest amount of personal flourishes and being crewed up with people who genuinely want to work goes a long way toward making old hat enjoyable.  The movie may not inspire revolutionary fires anytime soon.  But as far as standard cabin-in-the-woods creepshows go, “Bornless Ones” is one of the better-acted and most efficiently executed productions out there.

Review Score:  75

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