Piety

Director - Jack Mulvanerty (Creeps: A Tale of Murder and Mayhem)
Starring - Henry Crane, Johnny Dickie (City of the Dream Demons), and Jack Mulvanerty
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Horror let me down recently.  Not long ago I reviewed the horror short Flesh and Blood a Go! Go! and enjoyed it.  It could have used some work but the overall film was solid.  The next film up was the Ice-T fronted Bloodrunners set in the 30s during prohibition.  This film let me down.  So much so that I left horror for a bit and reviewed the newest Marvel flick Doctor Strange.  Now, its back to some horror with the new short from director Jack Mulvanerty.  The short, Piety, was sent my way from actor/director Johnny Dickie.  Thanks for thinking of Horror Society when you sent this one out.

     The film follows an inmate living a tortured past.  We follow the inmate as he dives deeper into madness after he is confronted by something otherworldly.

   





     Most of you may recall the name Jack Mulvanerty and Johnny Dickie.  Mulvanerty is the young man responsible for the no budget splatter flick Creeps: A Tale of Murder and Mayhem that I was lucky enough to review several years ago.  Dickie is a name most of you in the indie horror scene are familiar with after the release of his anthology film Slaughter Tales which he wrote and directed while he was a young teen.  Both of the young men have made great contributions to no budget horror and I'm fairly certain that they have yet to even reach the age of 20!  What's your excuse?  The acting in this one is not the best I've seen.  Dickie, Mulvanerty, and company show a lot of dedication to the film and their role but they have a difficult time making their performance feel natural instead of forced.  The story for this one is very intriguing and made very good use of the film's budget.  The film could have easily went the torture porn route and I'm very thankful that the team behind this one had enough originality and imagination to stay away from that.  With that being said, some of the scenes feel a little wasted as if their full potential was never reached.  Finally, the film has some blood and a tiny bit of gore but it isn't that impressive.  The effects are minimal and needed work but was not that unpleasant on the eye.  Overall, Piety was a solid short that has some eerie images and a unique story.  Check it out.