There’s Some Allure to LORE, But Is It Enough?
LORE succeeds in perhaps the most vital way: it presents one of the most engaging supernatural evil concepts I’ve heard in a while. I won’t dare spoil it but suffice to say that I immediately went online and began researching any other information on it, and other tales and bits of legend about it. Horror, at all budget levels, is about the big bad. What evil is out there, how is it going to kill you and why are what viewers are often in their seats for. I uproariously applaud filmmakers Christian Larsen and Brock Manwill for bringing such a terrifying concept to the screen. I only wish they’d paid it off with a more interesting film overall.
LORE is an overly-crisp looking bit of supernatural horror. The film follows divorcing parents looking for their missing son in the vast wilderness where he was camping when he disappeared. The challenge of micro-budget cinema is engagement. LORE suffers from an opening preamble that spends too much time lingering on the parents pondering where their son is. The mother sits in solitude, she consults her priest, she talks to her soon to be ex-husband before finally meeting with a Native American man who knows more about the wildness her son was in. The film uses a few clever snippets to illuminate the audience to the fact that many others have gone missing in these woods, which is ultimately important but isn’t given enough breadth early on to take hold.
The film really gets going once the parents and their Native American guide reach the woods and begin looking in earnest for their son. It’s then that viewers finally get a few attempts at scares, but more so we’re treated to a little bit of the lore the film’s title claims. The film continuously lost me in long stretches where simply nothing happens. This is where budget often comes into play. When working with limited funds creative lensing is crucial for audience engagement. Create better frames, move the camera in unique ways. There are a few almost raw attempts at gore, but they’re covered in similar bland ways that it limits any punch. The overall story isn’t entirely satisfying, and there’s not enough plot development to really earn a feature length run time.
There’s a sneaky interesting performance from lead actor Max Lesser; he’s got a sort of disinterested but gravely Keifer Sutherland vibe to him. The remaining cast performs admirably with the material they’re given. Shout out to the non-speaking Native American girl for pouting and pointing at things with the best of them.
LORE is a solid attempt at supernatural horror that suffers from prolonged periods of inaction. It doesn’t wholly deliver a satisfying story, but its big swing of a villain and sprinkles of Native American mythology are enough to warrant a viewing.
Want to subscribe to our newsletter so you won’t miss the next horror movie review? Just sign up HERE
Want more horror movie reviews? Just search below:
