Endor

Endor – the name alone is sending chills down my spine ever since I have had the chance of watching the film. What sets off as a breezy romantic drama right after a bewildering church service is a supernatural horror film with a silent murderer slaughtering people in his pursuit of a young woman. The unabating suspense and the horror that ensues from the bloodbath are what keep the viewers engaged till the end; the end is as fascinating as it is unexpected.

The principal element of the film apart from the series of murders that keeps the film interesting is beautifully written dialogues between Russ and Keira while they are on their road trip to Russ’s parents home. They are so naturally emerging through the scenes establishing the story covertly, yet convincingly. The kind of conversation that is exchanged between the lead characters reminded me of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise. But the similarity ends there because the carefree couple is up for some serious chasing once they run out of fuel. The aerial shots following the road through the farm lands deserve a special mention, as it was done so professionally and gave a sense of grandeur to the film; a shout-out to Matt Everson. Although the dialogues are engaging, there are some moments when the delivery of them felt a little too flat by the actors. They sort of felt like disconnected from their actions, although for brief periods of time.

Once the couple realises that it is running out of fuel, they find themselves in the middle of nowhere until they pull into a church’s parking lot. Here, I must mention that it felt a bit awkward to cut right into Keira’s back-story when Russ is waiting outside the church for her to appear after the search. Irrespective of these little negatives, Julia Farrell and Dustin Smith has a flair for ingenious acting. They could have just carried on with their roles in real life if not for the rest of the story, and that kind of involvement is crucial to any film. Owen is a heavily built silent character with dark hair and a cap who towers over everyone around him. Although it is uncomfortable to accept his presence everywhere without him running a lot, there is a strong reason in the end which justifies the idea.

The photography is just right, it is gripping and there is no better way to carry the camera around for this genre than the one that is employed here. Eli Mardock boosted the film with such an appropriate and exciting score. The storyline is consistent and the way bits of information that run along the film adds up, in the end, is helpful. Bar scene and the demonstration of other characters may seem peripheral and unnecessarily lengthy, abandoning the lead characters. The one important thing that I believe the makers of the film miscalculated is the magnitude of panic and fear that should be emanated from the characters in the presence of blood and death. Some of the times, the side characters remained overwhelmingly unmindful of the gravity of the situation. The urgency of the plight could have been improved and a little screaming could have helped the audience live through the scenes. I mean, the murderer is right behind running with the same pace as the victims, and immediately the runners stop in their tracks and look around for things; it would have worked out well if the man with the sickle had a limp. Other than that, the directors were successful in making the viewers uncomfortable and nervous during the scenes in the dark and in the corn fields.

I almost gasped at the conviction of the plot in the climax. Endor is a brilliantly presented film with passionate actors and convincing characters. It is hard to describe how, but it just is complete; maybe the way the story ends wrapping up the idea that starts it.