Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls

Director - Andrew Bowser (Little Willy, The Mother of Invention)

Starring - Andrew Bowser, Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, From Beyond), and Olivia Taylor Dudley (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, She Dies Tomorrow)

Release Date - 2023

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Tagline - "Demons.  Ghouls.  Tiny wines.  Onyx is in for one hell of a weekend"

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Several years ago I came across the YouTube channel Bowser Vids. Andrew Bowser is the genius behind the viral videos featuring his now iconic character Onyx the Fortuitous. Most of the videos are titled “Weird Arby’s Guy,” “Weird Gamer Guy,” or “Weird Anime Guy” depending on the video you are watching. I immediately started following him and learned that he had written and directed several films along with the various videos on his YouTube channel. Sometime back he started crowd funding for his newest feature Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls. I had kept an eye on him promoting the film but somewhere between the closing of the crowd funding campaign and filming he stopped posting about it for obvious reasons. Fast forward to a few weeks back when I started receiving press releases for the theatrical premier of the film. After sharing the news with you beautiful people I was sent a screener link that I couldn’t pass up. This movie was everything I hoped it was and more! 

      The film follows Onyx the Fortuitous who wins a contest to attend the home with a legendary occultist with some other contestants. Onyx hopes that this little getaway to his idles mansion will be an enlightening experience but what he doesn’t know is that his idle, Bartok the Great (Jeffrey Combs), has imprisoned a demon and is using the contestants to grant himself immortality. 

      Bowser’s Onyx character is one of my favorite internet characters so it was a no-brainer to watch this film and I’m so fucking glad I did. This is the type of horror film that I love especially as Halloween approaches. It’s funny, bloody, and full of nods to classic genre properties. This movie reminded me of other YouTube personalities that made films based around their online personas like Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie and The Smosh Movie. I’m a sucker for these types of films and I can see myself watching this one over and over again without tiring of it. It’s that damn good! The acting in this one is fucking fantastic. We start with Bowser who is at home with his Onyx character. He made the film and I hope to any higher power that is willing to listen that we get a follow up film with the character. We also have an Empire Entertainment reunion with Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs appearing in the film. These two are well known for their roles in From Beyond and Re-Animator so it was cool to see them in the same film again. Sadly, they don’t share a scene but it was still cool to see them appearing in the same film. With that being said, Combs delivered a performance I was not expecting and I loved it. His character was just as enjoyable as Bowser’s. I could watch an entire movie about his backstory. The remainder of the cast deserves mention as well but I would be here all day giving them the praise they deserve. The story for this one is predictable but it is still a wild ride. You can see the film’s premise a mile away and most movie fans know exactly what to expect. However, the journey is what makes the film so much fun. We have a lot of Child’s Play references along with a tribute to Beetlejuice and a few others that I can’t remember off the top of my head. We have great pacing, lots of humor, and a very rich and detailed story that most movies fail to deliver. Finally, the film has a lot of effects to enjoy. We get some visual effects that don’t stick out like a sore thumb along with so many amazing practical effects. We have some seriously impressive make-up effects, prosthetics, and puppets. While the film is not that gory or bloody, it does satisfy that itch most of us horror fans have. Overall, Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is the horror comedy that you’ve been waiting for. This is for those of you that love your horror with a little adventure and comedy. This is a movie that I will be adding to my annual October horror binge going forward and I highly recommend you check it out