Review of Lord of Tears (2013) by Voodoo R — 03 Feb 2015

I really wanted to like this movie it definitely had a lot of promise, but does fall down in a few key areas. The first issue I have is with the the time period it takes place. The school buildings and all the places in the film outside of the house give the impression it takes place in the 70's. Which is odd considering it takes place in current day and that from my memory is only specifically mentioned on the hex media site and the glimpses of modern technology. This seems even weirder with the female lead who's hinted to be from a different time who looks to be in her early mid/20's , but has the style of someone growing up in the 40's and the movie tries hard to imply that she is from a very different time. Which would make sense considering the black and white photograph found later that is aged and the set heavily sets the tone of the movie taking place in the 70's which would make the main character in his mid to late 30's and a small child in the 40's when the photo was taken.

One other issue I have is with the film is the main actor. I'm not sure who decided to have him freak out at everything. It makes it much harder to take him seriously later on when he is legitimately afraid, but harder to buy considering he's been doing that the whole film.

The last issue I have is with the Owl Man. Great looking and he looks creepy and the movie really tries, but the movie doesn't really feature him till the last 20 min maybe half hour. Considering the whole movie centers on him they really don't include him as much. I'm fully aware a large part of horror is keeping certain things in the dark however, it seemed a lot was revealed last minute and also his appearances were sporadic. One thing about HP Love Craft did so well was the sense of for boding the power of the gods through out the whole story and in this case it really feels shoved in last minute.

Had they worked out the time line/plot holes, issues with the main actor and included more of the Owl Man earlier on it could've been great. They really skip of over a lot of the Owl Man and it feels like it got thrown in at the end. The promise though is definitely there, which makes this so much more disappointing especially considering the trailer and the implication the Owl Man would be more involved.