The Old Ways

Sometimes you really shouldn’t go sniffing around for a story to report.  Leave well enough alone, you know?  Especially if it is witchcraft that you are after.  The Old Ways is what happens when warning signs go ignored.  Or was it always destined to end this way after all?

"gets its unique taste for HORROR on and promises to be an intense film that won’t soon be forgotten this October."


Christopher Alender's spellbinding horror film, The Old Ways, is every bit as haunting as it sounds.  Full of great atmosphere, practical effects, and a robust supernatural engine at its core, it definitely provides enough suspense and head-scratching paranoia to make you swear off every damn temptation surrounding you.

If you aren’t startled after one minute into this horror entry, then you aren’t paying close enough attention.  A calming moment between a mother and her daughter is irrevocably twisted into a scene of sheer teeth-gnashing horror as Veracruz, Mexico becomes the scene of sorcery and healing.  It's the beginning of a lifetime of horror for one small girl.

Welcome to The Old Ways.  Your stay here is going to be interesting as one journalist discovers that she just might be the devil reborn! 

With a charged atmosphere and a unique setting, this tale of exorcism at the hands of a Nahuatl bruja gets its unique taste for HORROR on and promises to be an intense film that won’t soon be forgotten this October.

Written by Marcos Gabriel and directed by Christopher Alender, The Old Ways kicks off with the girl at the beginning of the movie now fully grown and kidnapped.  Cristina (Brigitte Kali Canales) is now a journalist and her quest for reporting the supernatural has landed her in a whole heap of trouble in her ancestral home. The Old Ways

In a dark room with a bag over her head, she hears that someone wants to know what she is doing in the La Boca ruins.  We are just as puzzled as she is, but when the bag is pulled off, names are confirmed, and Miranda (Andrea Cortés), Cristina's cousin, is identified, we are automatically intrigued as the spell is cast.

It is here where she is investigating what happened to her years before, but an unfortunate accident has led her face to face with Luz (Julia Vera) who peers deep into her eyes and confirms that, yes, Cristina has something unnatural kicking about within her.  While it may not be a devil per-say, it definitely is a devilish addiction.  Heroin.  And this addiction must be purified from its host. 

But is there something more to this addiction?

Co-starring Weston Meredith, AJ Bowen, and Sal Lopez as Javi, The Old Ways is full of startling images as teeth are pulled from her stomach, snakes are seen slithering along the walls of her cell, and a mutilated rooster is discovered.  When an ancient spirit keeps her from escaping her cell, she begins to find herself at odds with her position.  Perhaps something is amiss here.  Enter the black liquid as the purifying begins.

With plenty of twists and turns, The Old Ways works as metaphor and as horror as Cristina finds herself in a role reversal in order to ultimately deliver the death blow to the demon determined to keep advancing.

From Dark Star Pictures, The Old Ways is available October 12 on streaming services and on Blu-ray/DVD.

4/5 stars

 

Film Details

The Old Ways

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
90 mins
Director
: Christopher Alender
Writer:
Marcos Gabriel
Cast:
Brigitte Kali Canales; Andrea Cortés; Julia Vera
Genre
: Horror | Drama
Tagline:

Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor:
Soapbox Films; Darkstar Films
Official Site: https://www.thehustle.movie/
Release Date:
May 10, 2019
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 12, 2021.
Synopsis: Cristina, a journalist of Mexican origin, travels to her ancestral home in Veracruz to investigate a story of sorcery and healing. There, she is kidnapped by a group of locals who claim she's the devil incarnated. Brigitte Kali Canales,Andrea Cortés,and Julia Vera star.

Art

The Old Ways