The Alchemist Cookbook

source: The Alchemist Cookbook

I wasn't sure I'd like "Alchemist Cookbook", and after finishing it, I still can't tell if I like it. I see elements of "Repulsion" here, and "Blair Witch Project" and "Pi". (I don't actually know if that's what the director had in mind - that's just what this reminds me of). That's not a bad mix, if you're into films where people slowly lose their minds and/or fall victim to malicious forces. The two person cast here does a fantastic job, but the real question is...was this a job worth doing? As I said, even after watching the whole movie, I'm not sure. The "slow boil to madness" theme is certainly well done, as is the murky unresolved nature of the "forces" (Belial? Ba'al? Asmodeus? ) the protagonist is trying to awaken and (apparently) sell his soul to in exchange for "gold" (I think) and riches. The crux of the screenplay comes in two crucial scenes: the scene where the young man sits in a corner of his tiny trailer and fantasizes out loud (to his cat?) about what he'll do once he's rich. The litany of "stuff" he plans to wallow in (shelves full of Little Debbie products, Gatorade, and Doritos) will break your heart. And the scene where he encounters the apparently possessed body of his best friend, which is genuinely spooky and disturbing - without revealing too much to the viewer. Both of these scenes deserve special mention - everything that is "good" about the movie is packed in here. So the film builds and builds and builds as the hero sinks lower and lower and lower into the depths of mania, and then he stumbles out into the woods in search of his (now missing) cat for a genuinely anquished 5 or 6 minutes...and then he sees something and screams...and the camera freezes. Not cool. In fact, I'd call that trick lazy and disappointing, given how good the director was at showing us JUST ENOUGH of what was happening before. Still, there is a lot to admire here, even if I don't "like" it. Would I recommend it to the average horror film fan.... Uh, maybe depending on that fan's tolerance and enjoyment of mumblecore and ambiguity.

A meth-head makes a movie about a meth-head, starring a meth-head playing a meth-head. Oh, there's a rotting trailer, a beat-up copy of a book about summoning daemons and the plot-line suggests he take a clumsy swipe at it. A drug-addict cooking up meth in a trailer ? How'd we get from that to Alchemy ? This ain't 'Breaking Bad'...but it is badly broken. Giving this piece of drek a '1' is being generous.

I was told this was one of the best horror films on Amazon Prime.. I only made it through 45 minutes before I gave up.. Nothing like watching a guy chop a tree down for minutes, or fishing for minutes. The best part was when someone came to visit him- otherwise stay away.

Let me try to summarize this film. A man living out in the woods by himself tries to discover, through alchemy, how to make gold while he has a mental breakdown with possible demons knocking at his door. Does that sum it up? I've seen adverts for this film around Hulu, Prime, and other streaming sites but never had the time to turn it on. Well, tonight was the night, bay-bee, and I wanted to treat myself to something off the wall. Boy, did I get it. Look, this is going to be a hard film to recommend to, well, anyone. It's a low budget indie horror flick with one actor, mostly, and one setting. I get what the director was trying to do, but it's not what he ultimately accomplishes. Because the film isn't trying to be just one thing, it becomes a jumbled mess of several things. A majority of the tension is lost due to comedy interjected between scenes. Some shots are not framed correctly, leaving you with no idea what the character is gaping at. The ending, though, will be the biggest issue most viewers will have with the film. There are good things about this movie that need to be praise. Ty Hickson (Sean) is pretty good as the lead. The character has a lot of baggage and Hickson pulls it off rather well. Amari Cheatom also adds some well-needed interaction between himself and Hickson, to helps sell how far Sean's mental state has gone. The sound design was well done. There are disembodied voices hidden throughout, a strange caterwauling coming from off-screen, and some solid foley work. All these build great tension and adds to the mystery of, "is he finally losing it or are demons real?" As I said, though, this movie will be a hard sell to casual audiences. There's a good movie in here, but its rough edges need to be polished, which includes the last 15 minutes of the movie. As it stands, you have to love the craft of storytelling and/or film-making to get the most of this. If you're looking for a traditional horror movie you need to look somewhere else. If you're looking for something a bit more experimental, I say give this film a shot. I'm giving this a 6 out of 10, closer to a 5 than a 7.

Quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. Pointless. I wish I had the time back I wasted watching this.

Sean (Ty Hickson) lives in Uncle Ron's trailer in the woods. He is attempting to make gold using an alchemist book. He is isolated and is brought supplies by Cortez (Amari Cheatom). Neither are likable characters. Sean goes off his meds and begins to see things...are they demons from his experiment or is he descending into madness. The film was basically a one man play and I was bored watching/hearing Sean chomp on chips, play with chemicals, light candles, and tend for a cat. It isn't until an hour into the film that anything exciting happens. Not for everyone. Not for me, although it may find a small niche. Guide: F-word. Male butt nudity

The inconsistent audio made it almost impossible to watch. It was stone quite and then the is playing his music full blast, audio jump scares are just lame.

All I'll say is that you'll spend the whole time waiting for an amazing ending to happen, when in reality, you arrive at one of the stupidest, most aggravating endings of all time. This movie tries very hard to be a slow boil with the increasingly erratic and psychotic behavior of the main character. Mixed with constant scenes of his clearly degenerative mental state accompanied by his drastic actions, this leads the viewer to believe that the climax will be worth putting up with watching him lose his mind. In reality the entire movie is just a repetitive piece of garbage. Had potential and I can appreciate the actor's dedication and convincingness while portraying a man having/causing his own psychotic break, but unless you want to be incredibly aggravated when the credits roll, go ahead and choose something else.

I knew this movie was going to be slow the moment I started it. Which is why I stopped watching it within 10 minutes in. I couldn't stand the slow pace. I wanted a story to watch! Give it a few months and I'm bored so I throw The Alchemist Cookbook on again as a way to lull myself to sleep. I don't know what I was expecting. I guess I expected this movie to put me to sleep. There's nothing in this movie's story to keep you watching it. There's no hook, there's no deep significant lesson, there's absolutely no resolve; BUT THE ACTING. For one relatively unknown actor to carry this kind of film absolutely blows my mind. The acting of this film is what kept me glued to my screen. After a while I stopped caring what the story was. I didn't care for the script. Watching Ty work wonders with his character blew my mind. It's very rare, at least in my experience, to see movies like this get saved by an actor you've never heard about. This movie was definitely saved by Ty's acting. I wouldn't recommend this movie to a lot of people but that's only because I don't think they would appreciate it. For me the acting alone made this movie watchable. I'm not so sure it would be the same for others.