St. Agatha

Mothers of all ages should be respected. All the hard work you put into making everything work in your family, and for everything you do to make your kids ordinary day function. I think men ( not all men, but some ) don´t show their appreciation sometimes towards their wife / girlfriend. Take her out for a dinner, buy her some flowers, or if you really want to make her happy, give her a Dolph Lundgren DVD box set. Why is this the perfect choice ? Very easy, you see, Dolph is every woman´s fantasy. How do i know that ? I just happen to know ( not speaking about myself ). When it comes to movies that talk about motherhood, we have a lot of films to choose between. So i thought i should pick out 2 films that you should see. Let us start with Spanish horror film The Orphanage, released in 2007. A very well made film from Spanish director J.A. Bayona ( who recently directed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ). This film is about a woman named Laura, who return to her home after many years, a big house that used to be an orphanage. She plans to open the orphanage again, while she is living here with her husband Carlos and her 7 year old son Simón. One day Laura sees a strange child, wearing a sack mask. Who is this child, and why is he wearing a sack mask ? Her worst nightmare becomes real when her son Simón disappear and is gone for months. Laura never stops looking, but is there a connection to Simón´s disappearance and the past of the orphanage ? If you have not seen The Orphanage, then you really should. This is in my personal opinion the best film from director J.A. Bayona, and lead actress Belén Rueda ( who is also very good in the Spanish horror film Julia´s Eyes ) gives us a really strong performance in The Orphanage. My next film choice is of course, a film that affected me personally for different reasons. I am talking about the horror movie The Lullaby ( also known as Siembamba ). The lead actress Reine Swart did one of the best horror performances of 2018, and i have to say that she should have been nominated at the Golden Globe Awards. One of the things that really made my year special last year, is that Reine Swart shared my review of The Lullaby on her Facebook page, and this was a big honor for me. To have such a wonderful actress share my work, was the highlight of last year for me. The Lullaby tells the story of young mother Chloe, who is struggling with her mental health and have problems taking care of her new born baby. This film is a very effective story, about motherhood and especially about personal problems. The horror elements in this film is also a detail that works really well, and director Darrel Roodt clearly knew how to tell a story about motherhood. Recently i listened to a new horror movie review on YouTube channel Geek Legion Of Doom, a film called St. Agatha. The premise of this film sounded interesting, so i decided to check it out. Is this an effective horror film, or is St. Agatha a film that will most likely be forgotten ?

The year is 1957, and outside a small town of Georgia, a pregnant woman named Mary ( Sabrina Kerm ) seeks refugee at a convent Sisters Of Divinity. Mother Superior ( Carolyn Hennesy ) is making sure that Mary feels welcome to her new home. But Mary starts to feel that something is not right in her new home, that The Sisters Of Divinity may not be such a wonderful place after all. 

I have to be honest and say, St. Agatha is one of the most interesting independent films i have seen this year so far. There is a strange mix here of Catholic Church, psychological control and evil religious behavior towards women. I know you must be thinking that this does not sound like a good combination, and this is exactly how i feel after watching this film. Seeing these women being treated like garbage, is disturbing. You would think that this should be a place where they look after women who had a rough life, but instead they end up in a real hell instead. This film does a good job portraying the year of 1957, with the costume design and the location of the old house. The mentality of these so called Nuns feel very old fashioned. And they are clearly brain washed, when you see how they actually behave towards these young women. There are several performances that works in this film, but i have to say that actress Carolyn Hennesy ( who you might remember from TV series Cougar Town as the character Barbara Coman ) as the evil Mother Superior is absolutely astonishing. Her character is perfect for a film like this, and Carolyn´s performance lift this film up into another level of quality. She must have done a lot of research about how to play a very manipulative religious person before going into this role. Lead actress Sabrina Kern also gives a strong performance as Mary, who is trying to find a way to deal with her life. Actress Trin Miller ( who played Leslie in the masterpiece film Captain Fantastic ) also gives a strong performance as sister Paula. The plot may be simple, but still very effective. I personally think that the story manage to connect so well, thanks to the great characters and the disturbing environment in this convent. Director Darren Lynn Bausman ( who some of you might remember for being the director of Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV ) have made an independent film that don´t rely on any jump scares. This is a horror film that builds itself up on a psychological level, and show you how evil humans can be. I would not say that St. Agatha is an original film, but i will say that this is one of the best religious themed horror films i have seen in recent years. I am going high on the rating for St. Agatha, since i really enjoyed this film. If you want a really good independent horror film on VOD, you should see St. Agatha and hopefully enjoy it as much as i did ( hoping for a DVD release with a Director´s Commentary track ).

Rating: DDDD