The October 13 of 13
So The October 13, the watch of thirteen horror/Halloween/thriller movies that I had not written a review for on the site, comes to an end with the final listed film, the Netflix film called Apostle starring Dan Stevens.
According to IMDB, “The year is 1905. Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens) travels to a remote island to rescue his sister after she’s kidnapped by a mysterious religious cult demanding a ransom for her safe return. It soon becomes clear that the cult will regret the day it baited this man, as he digs deeper and deeper into the secrets and lies upon which the commune is built“
The first feeling, vibe, I got from this film was that it reminded me of The Wicker Man. This turned even more brutal and certainly avoided the hammy clichés of the Nicolas Cage’s movie.
This started really slow. In fact, almost an hour in, I was not finding much to enjoy in Apostle. Dan Stevens is always solid and his performance was basically what was keeping me with the film.
When things picked up, there was some horrific scenes involving a father and his daughter that were shocking and disturbing. It was at this point that I found myself more invested than I had been at any point prior to this.
The third act of this film was brutal and bloody, with some horrific imagery that pushed the story into a new level. However, I am not sure that I enjoyed the resolution of this film.
This wrapped up The October 13 with a bit of a downer. Apostle had some ups, but I’m not sure there are enough ups to recommend it.