The Hagstone Demon

source: The Hagstone Demon

This movie dragged on worse than a political speech...I actually found myself rooting for the demons to kill off the boring main character to stop his droning voice that wouldn't end. The Black and White film added nothing to this film except perhaps it saved on using color film. I would suggest using a camcorder for this stinker so it could be recorded over. The best actor in this film was the Sphinx cat who did a great job of not running away from embarrassment for being in this movie. The demon at the end was really cheesy, I think it was one of those rubbery Boglin hand puppets from the 80's.

If you commit to the slow burn more than the actors or the scriptwriters did, there's a bit of a payoff in the end. Unfortunately, the acting and the pace of the story were both so bad, I couldn't make it that far and still take it seriously. It's a straightforward dark possession horror, except it feels like Tommy Wiseau was the writer, director, and acting coach.

This movie is a proof you can still make cheap horror flick that is actually quite interesting. I would really not describe this movie as a "good", because the actors are kinda wooden and the script seems to be somewhat incoherent. But the story is actually pretty cool. It reminds me of classic like "Young Goodman Brown". The atmosphere of the place, "the house that is going to be demolished" is creepy. Not because of its unique architecture or meaning (like in The Toolbox Murders), but rather because of the very strange people who still live in the house. Especially the young female tramp gave me creeps (she seems never to blink, that's really unsettling!) The story of the main character, the caretaker, is actually very good. It's not modern gory horror, but rather the old psychological one, which is good. The ambitions of the authors of the movie were probably beyond their budget and resources so if you want your "bag of popcorn, blood and screams" you are going to be disappointed. But if you wish to see something slower yet chilling you will tolerate the weak spots here and there.

Sure sounds like it. This is one rotten movie. I give it a 10. I like bad movies, you see. This has everything: bad writing, bad direction, bad production, bad acting.. bad everything. Even the Hagstone is a disgusting looking old building with smelly slimy creepiness oozing out all over. Bad bad bad. But is it Doris Wishman bad? Is it Hershel Gordon Lewis bad? No way. Is it Plan 9 bad? Yeah, sort of. It is bad in an innocent, endearingly bad sort of way. The sort of bad you can scoff at with a good conscience because you support the idea of low budget truly independent film making and rather hope the makers keep making without ever getting good enough to sell out and become mainstream "good". Because that would be truly bad and truly unwatchable. Ya know what I mean?

I have to say that this is a surprisingly worthwhile no budget horror film if you can get by the bad acting, editing and some serious lows in the dialogue. Otherwise it's stylish, has a pretty good plot, a few twists and turns (that would have been carried off better with some better acting, editing and dialogue) some moments of tight scripting and some great reactions from the weird the Dude/Napolean Dynamite hero of the films. If you're looking for the screw twist of Lake Mungo or the outright ridiculousness of a Troma film look elsewhere, and if you're a snob you probably won't even sit through a half hour but if you liked Evil Dead or Doom you should be able to get a kick out of this. As a silly horror film for a horror fan to watch inebriated for a bit of a thrill I would say that you couldn't go too far wrong with this.

Wow. What a stinker. We pick out three obscure films every Friday and this was in the last batch. One of the big problems other than how boring it is is that it takes itself VERY seriously. Shot in B & W to give it some kind of artistic feel, it just contributes to the dullness, and trust me this script is DULL. The protagonist is a very goofy looking "actor" who is incapable of emoting. Apparently he is some kind of cult star and maybe the movie is made exclusively for his fans, so I don't know maybe I'm missing some kind of inside joke. The effects look like they were made on the spot except the cat-thing which looked like it was a rubber puppet.I would love to give some props as this was obviously a no budget picture, but it's trying so desperately to be a Rosemary's Baby or some other kind of real movie that it couldn't possibly succeed. Some of the shots were nice so they had a decent cameraman, now if they had just replaced everything else it might have worked. One more thing, whoever you are who wrote that long glowing review is either connected to the production or should not be writing reviews because you are seriously misleading people.

This 'film'is possibly one of the most banal ever produced...which is why I have to ask if it is meant to be a joke, if it is...it isn't even a very good one. There is nothing at all scary....frightening....weird.. malevolent...unexpected about it from the first frame to the last. The main actor is pretty poor, but waaaaaay waaaaay ahead of his supporting cast who's acting abilities are akin to a bunch of 12 year olds...to be fair, delivering lines written by 4 year olds....it's absolute codswallop. It's only saving grace is in fact it's awfulness, which is cringingly amusing. Only watch this garbage if you have nothing better to do......no...in fact do nothing instead, it's more entertaining.

I really must applaud Jon Springer for having the knowhow to make a serious, creepy, indie horror flick in this era where the majority of indie horror efforts attempt to be comedic. I also must applaud him for casting Mark Borchardt from American Movie in the lead role. Borchardt is terrific in his role as a drunken ex-reporter who is plagued and haunted by demonic forces following the death of his wife. The bad reviews on this site are clearly the work of angry trolls, so please ignore them, and check out what might be one of the best indie horror films of the past 10 years. If you miss out on it, you will never forgive yourself.

This motion picture has to be one of the most stupid films I have ever seen. I'm even surprised I watched it till the end (Its 7.4 rating influenced me, I admit). It vaguely makes a connection between scenes, the protagonist changes his personality without any viable explanation, antagonists are poor imitations of evil individuals in other films, and the overall script is embarrassing. This movie is amusingly boring (I know, a paradox...right?). I can't imagine why someone would want to do a film like this. One of the most annoying things about it is that it constantly makes viewers feel that they are about to see something interesting. It quickly disappoints, however... I wouldn't recommend it!