Tonight’s story is Moloch: a woman searches for answers around a family curse and a legend of an ancient evil!

Moloch! 

Movie Details:

• Release Date: 2022
• “Run”time: 1 hour 39 minutes
• Where to watch it: Streaming
• Directed by: Nico van den Brink
• Written by:  Daan Bakker and Nico van den Brink
• Starring:
  • Sallie Harmsen
  • Anneke Blok
  • Alexandre Willaume

Synopsis: A woman searches for answers around a family curse and a legend of an ancient evil.

Open Stab Wounds (out of 10): 7

Review: Foreign horror is often great. It brings back old tales that most of us are no longer familiar with. Troll Hunter and Rare Exports were both absolutely fantastic and brought a new feeling to very old concepts, steeped in mythology and lore. From the opening scenes, I knew tonight’s movie was going to be one like that. So, let’s get into Moloch.

Moloch tells the story of a family that is possibly cursed. It opens on Betriek (played by Sallie Harmsen as an adult), hiding in a pantry while somebody above her is being attacked. Screams are heard and soon, blood is pouring down into the pantry from the floorboards above.

Time then jumps to 30 years later; Betriek is back home with her mother and has a daughter of her own. In the nearby bog, a body has been discovered and a research team is there to investigate and document what has been found. The lead researcher, Jonas (Alexandre Willaume) develops a bit of a relationship with Betriek and this leads to talk of her family curse, local myths of an ancient evil, and whether or not they believe in them.

As the film goes on we’re given clues and pieces of the truth and eventually those pieces can be put together without much effort. That is not to say that everything is handed to you, but much of the exposition lets you deduce what is going to happen and what has happened. This all leads to a conclusion that may or may not be what you expect.

I enjoyed this film. It’s refreshing to watch something that is based in mythology outside of the norm for US Horror. There are parallels and common themes for sure, but it was obscure enough to feel like something new and different. I can’t say that stopped me from predicting how the movie was going to end though.

There was not much gore and the scare moments were done more in a sense of what might be there, rather than jump scares. The cinematography was well done and the settings were well shot. It definitely had that European small village feel and that’s not a bad thing. Nothing really stood out too much, but none of it was done poorly.

While I felt the ending was a bit predictable, there were some turns I wasn’t able to piece together until the end. I don’t want to spoil anything with some of my other thoughts, but I will say I did enjoy the film. If you don’t like subtitles, this may not be for you; it is about half and half Dutch and English. If you’re looking for something a little different, this is a good choice.

Thanks for reading and watching along with us! Be sure to keep up with all 31 days of our Halloween Horror Film coverage! 

Oh, and make sure to follow Brandon on Twitter @BarnyardCruz and Kevin @Solucid!