The Hagstone Demon's Cultish Debut: A Movie Review

Director: Jon Springer.

Writers: Harrison Matthews, and Jon Springer.

Cast: Mark Borchardt, Nadine Gross and Cyndi Kurtz.

DVD Release: Sept 27, 2011.

Cult classics don’t come easy and now that The Hagstone Demon is out on DVD, it is going to deliver its unique stamp in no time at all. The appeal of this noir-style product comes from the lead. Mark Borchardt (Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever) delivers a ridicously hackneyed performance that works for the type of character he plays. Douglas Elmore is hired to take care of a building that is destined to be torn down in a few months.

The few tenants still residing here may also echo his tired and miserable existence. That’s hard to tell, but until he can repair his own life, they appear to be nagging him about one thing or another, like: when is the toilet going to be fixed? For a good part of the movie, he spends most of his time repairing the old building instead of himself.

The tale is great in that regard since it looks at the vulgarities of human existence. The movie spaces itself out so that audiences are seeing bits of Elmore’s life reveal itself. He is also a bit obsessed with a comic book that he owns. It’s almost like a diary filled with semi-erotic images about an old man and a witch—but as for what that means, perhaps that’s one part of the movie best left unsaid.

But when people start to die off, he’s the main suspect when the police arrive to investigate.

When a new flame, Barbara Halloway (Cyndi Kurtz) starts to ignite his soul, he looks into what is going on within this old structure. After what he finds, he has to recruit his brother Fr. Carl Becker (Sasha Andreev), a priest to help. What he discovers is a darker mystery that involves cults, witchcraft, necromancy and a hairless cat. To have all of that filmed in glorious black and white only emphasizes the contrasts. But when it switches to colour, the product takes on a different kind of life. It breeds a strange kind of flash forward, perhaps of the shapes and things to come in a sequel, than to look back.

This film can easily expand if writer/director Jon Springer chooses to do so. As for where Elmore can go, maybe instead of Rosemary’s Baby, he can tackle the Omen.

The film's homepage:

The Hagstone Demon's Homepage

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Posted in: 2011,2011 release,comedy,dvd artwork,haunted house,movie review,supernatural