Followers of the Dead Light (2020)

Followers of the Dead Light (2020) - Canada
Directed by: Yan Kaos

ABOUT THE FILM:
Followers of the Dead Light is one of the latest feature length endeavors from Canadian sicko Yan Kaos, who is joined by a handful of directors from around the globe to bring us quite possibly one of the most demented and depraved movies ever conceived! Featuring work from Yan Kaos, Darren Ricci, Melissa Sapienza, Rob Ceus, Inge Vanleene, Jonas Bekaert, Alex Wesley, Maria Kostromina, Joe and Cid Meredith, Esa Jussila, Artturi Rostén, Nathan Hine, Bob Vresilovic, Tyffany Laskey, Splat, Camille Monette, Brian Paulin, Rich George, Ashley Valentine, Ronnie Kaye and Brian Garret.

REVIEW:
Followers of the Dead Light is quite a complicated beast when it comes to actually trying to review it. Usually when I review a movie I like to start by summarizing the plot, but the plot in Followers is very cryptic and vague, yet better off kept that way. Followers almost feels like an anthology, with different scenes and vignettes from different directors, but apparently Yan gave each director involved an idea for the scenes he wanted to bring out demonic spirits. Each scene is tied together into one giant conglomeration of extreme violence, brutality, blasphemy, necrophilia, Satanic imagery, nihilism, sexual deviancy; I could go on all day! Every single scene does its best in bringing out the ugliest and most evil sides of humanity, bombarding us with the most grotesque and heinous imagery possible while building a hell of an atmosphere with its soundtrack. Seriously, some of the stuff in this movie is the shit nightmares are made of.

In this day and age, there are many extreme films in the underground scene or out on the market that feel like they're either trying too hard to outdo each other in shock value, or like they're just trying to make a quick buck. Followers of the Dead Light isn't necessarily breaking any new ground but it breaks the mold of the constant pissing contest of who can make the more extreme movie. Followers is all about passionate underground horror filmmakers coming together to make a project they believe in, a project for fans of horror and extreme cinema alike to revel in. At a runtime of an hour and fifty minutes, Followers has grotesqueries, gore and depravity in spades and delivers to its fullest extent, and then some. Unfortunately, the movie feels slow in some spots and could've used a little tightening up, but overall the film is edited very well and greatly showcases the capabilities of every person involved.

The film has next to no dialogue and the acting is quite a mixed bag from scene to scene, but everyone turns in a decent showing and does the absolute best they possibly could. One of my favorite segments is by Finnish filmmakers Artturi Rostén and Esa Jussila, where a man being held hostage has his face brutally beaten and caved in with a hammer and a dumbbell, and the victim (played by Rostén) seems to be genuinely fearing for his life. Good fucking stuff.

But that scene is just the tip of the iceberg. We have endless gory scenes including (but not limited to) nails being shoved up dicks, decapitations, heads being split in half, faces chopped and peeled off, guts being torn into and eaten, castrations, bathtub abortions, throat slittings and a wide array of morbid and gruesome deaths. Some of these scenes are so graphic that they will make even the most seasoned gorehounds cringe!

The gore and makeup effects are very well done except for one scene where a hand is being chopped up on a blue tarp, and is obviously just a rubber hand with nothing in it. It caught me a little off guard and cracked me up but it didn't pull me out of the movie completely since every other effect was fucking amazing.

If you're looking for a traditional film with a linear structure then you're in the wrong place. Followers of the Dead Light is the product of the sick mind of Yan Kaos and can be described as the ultimate underground film. I can absolutely recommend it to all fans of extreme cinema as its a perverted ride you'll never forget.

RELEASES:
Followers of the Dead Light was released on DVD by D.I.Y. Productions in 2020 in three different editions, all three with different cover artworks and limited to 50 copies each. For extras we get a bunch of trailers for other releases from Yan Kaos.