Animosity

The creaking doors. The old power tools. The bodies in the leaves. Animosity, written and directed by Brendan Steere (The Velocipastor), provides a much needed kick in the pants as a sinister presence in the woods leads to all sorts of demonic mischief.

"pushes the envelope on the gristle in this ghoulish little flick"


And it begins with a mother offing her teenage kid with a power saw! Holy sheet, man!   

So when a newlywed couple, Mike Bonner (Marcin Paluch) and his wife Carrie (Tracy Willet), moves into a house in the middle of the woods - where our bizarro opening occurred - all bets are off for their safety.  Already, our senses are heightened to the danger that seems all around them, but Mike doesn’t help matters either.  He’s meeting strange people, later identified as Tom (Stephan Goldbach), outside their house and, when Carrie (who scores D-grade horror films) hurts herself, she finds Tom shooting a rifle in the woods rather wildly.

Mike doesn’t want to involve the authorities.  Carrie doesn’t feel safe.  And so begins their descent into the hell that these woods hide.  There are strange noises, strange happenings, and strange people living in their attic!

What the hell is going on? Our American history is chock full of stories about supernatural forces in the woods.  Animosity, which has some straight-up bizarre and violent sequences in rather lengthy running time, is yet another horror film to capitalize on that fascinating history in our folklore and in our literature.  Animosity

The cons in Animosity are obvious.  The film drags a bit.  It needs more edits in order to quicken the pace and clear up some of the confusion in the plot.  This is a low budget movie, so it suffers a bit in some moments due to the acting.  Other times, the movie shines like in its use of violence and camerawork.    

But this tale doubles down on the crazy as the confined location and the supernatural powers gathering around the couple soon have them at each other’s throats.  Who will survive as the horror in this house in the woods soon evolves into a domestic battle for sole (or is it soul) control?  Originally made a few years ago, Animosity pushes the envelope on the gristle in this ghoulish little flick and does a good job with the material.

Premiering on Digital July 20, Wild Eye Releasing has unearthed Velocipastor director Brendan Steere’s first film, Animosity!  Dig in and feel the hate!

4/5 stars

Film Details

Animosity

MPAA Rating: PG-13 on appeal for crude sexual content and language.
Runtime:
107 mins
Director
: Brendan Steere
Writer:
Brendan Steere
Cast:
Stephan Goldbach; Michelle Jones; Alyssa Kempinski
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
TheForest Never Forgives.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor:
Wild Eye Releasing
Official Site:
Release Date:
July 20, 2021
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:

Synopsis: A newlywed couple moves into a house in the middle of woods only to discover that the surrounding forest is host to sinister supernatural powers which turn them against each other.

Art

Animosity