Luz

Director - Tilman Singer (The Events at Mr. Yamamoto's Alpine Residence, El Fin Del Mundo)

Starring - Luana Velis (Diebe des Schlafes), Johannes Benecke (Hit Mom: Murderous Christmas, Moebius), and Jan Bluthardt (The Events at Mr. Yamamoto's Alpine Residence, Tatort)

Release Date - 2018

Genre - Horror

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     I receive press releases for so many films.  Some look fun and are right up my alley while others look unique.  Sadly, I do get press releases for movies that just utterly ridiculous.  Sometime ago I received a series of press releases for the German horror film Luz.  The series of posters to accompany the film really peaked my interest and I was all about it.  Sadly, I forgot about it until recently when a partner of Vinegar Syndrome, Altered Innocence, announced the release of the film on blu.  I try to snag their releases when possible and I didn't want to skip on this one.  I was very excited to check this one out.  

     The film follows Luz (Velis) who strolls into a dilapidated police station to turn herself in.  However, Luz is not safe there because a women, Nora, is possessed by a demon who is seducing her way into the police station to be with her.  

     I was so excited to spin Luz.  I had heard nothing but great things about this one with a lot of my friends in the horror community praising this possession film.  Sadly, I didn't care for it as much as others.  It was a decent first time watch but it was not as fun as others had lead me to believe.  It had an interesting premise but the dull scenes and flat dialogue made for an extremely difficult film to finish.  I can already hear the comment section bashing away at their keyboards bitching that I "didn't get it."  Regardless, there was moments I really dug but most of the film was a miss for me.  The acting in this one is my favorite part.  The characters are very well written and they mesh fantastic with the story.  The cast does a great job with the characters and the cast makes the film as enjoyable as it is.  The story for this one is a fun and unique take on a possession.  I liked the idea of the woman in the police station while a demon is possessing people to get to her.  With that being said, the story seems to drag on and once you figure out what is going on you find the impact of the story not hitting as hard as it should.  If the movie would have focused more on the demon possession instead of the woman infiltrating the police station it would have been so much more fun.  Finally, the film has some blood and a couple moments with some supernatural fun that implements some great camera tricks to pull them off.  It's not a gory mess but it does have a few moments.  Overall, Luz was not what I was expecting but it has it's moments.  I enjoyed the set up but it feels like there was some wasted opportunity here.  It's alright for a first time watch but don't expect a movie that will stick with you.