The Ungodly

Directed by: Thomas Dunn

Starring: Wes Bentley, Mark Borkowski, Joanne Baron, Beth Grant

Synopsis:

Recovering addict and struggling film-maker Mickey Gravatski (Bentley) has been tracking the activities of a local serial killer, called James Lemac. One night in a dark deserted alley, Mickey actually captures one of the James’s murders on film. Using the footage as blackmail, Mickey coerces James into taking part in a documentary about his chosen vocation. While Mickey tries to get to the heart of what made James become a killer, James is manipulating Mickey into becoming much more complicit in his crimes...



Review:

There is the old adage that the very act of observing something changes its nature, and The Ungodly explores that concept to a certain extent, as well as being an interesting exercise into when a film-maker stops being an observer and when he becomes complicit in his subject’s actions. Mickey is caught up in his pride of breaking new ground (by interviewing a serial killer before the police have discovered him) that he is little bothered with the moral or ethical concerns that his editor friend has, brushing them off with a vague notion of informing the police once he has the footage he wants.

Whilst the premise of The Ungodly immediately calls to mind the cult classic Man Bites Dog, mock-documentary in which a film crew follows a serial killer called Ben as he conducts his business. However, unlike the jovial, talkative Ben, James Lemac isn’t a willing participant in Mickey’s documentary. Likewise Mickey didn’t set out to document Lemac’s kills, and while Ben gleefully killed people just so he could be filmed doing so, Lemac kills only to satisfy a deep psychological need.

Lemac knows that, in order to reverse the power structure he finds himself in with Mickey, he has to make him culpable in his crimes, making his freedom depend heavily on that of Lemac’s well-being. He does this rather cleverly, but first pretending to break into a house (which turns out to be his sister’s) to gauge Mickey’s reaction. What he learns is that although Mickey makes a lot of negative noises he still tags along and never tries to physically stop Lemac from going deeper into the house.

Later, when Mickey is forced to be present during Lemac’s latest ritualistic murder of a young woman, he tried to weasel out of filming the murder by first complaining that someone is coming and when that doesn’t faze Lemac he says his battery is dead. Throughout the scene, Mickey makes no attempt to stop Lemac from what he is doing to the woman, and is less concerned about her than he is about Lemac directly speaking to him on film.

Whereas the first murder could be shrugged off as a bizarre, “caught-on-tape” incident, the second murder takes place in a woman’s bedroom with the murderer directly talking to the man behind the lens – this in itself visually shocks and sickens Mickey, perhaps providing him with a moment of clarity as to how much he is now involved in the actions of a serial killer.

While Lemac begins to exhort control over Mickey, Mickey himself focuses his energy on getting to the heart of why Lemac is killing women (and specifically, young mothers). Whilst this psychological side of the film is rather obvious early on, it is well plotted and leads to an intense dénouement in which we are introduced to The Ungodly’s true monster.

Thankfully the viewer isn’t exposed to any really graphic goings on – the filmed murders are quite low-key although the actresses involved really sell the scenes and convey the sense of panic and terror – this is especially true of the woman involved in the botched videotape murder ( Lemac ends up killing her too quickly because he couldn’t control her and command Mickey effectively at the same time).

Wes Bentley puts in a suitably intense performance as Mickey, a man totally caught up in producing something groundbreaking that he all but forgets to ask himself some obvious questions about ethics and morals. Mickey has a weak spirit and is easily led – be it his addictions or the stronger will of a serial killer. In the end I think he does see a lot of himself in James Lemac and by the end of the film he may be closer than he dare consider.

Mark Borkowski also puts in an intense performance as James Lemac. His dishevelled appearance is a bit disarming at first – he doesn’t look organised enough to be a serial killer – at least a successful one. He is however an intelligent man and it isn’t long before he has turned the tables on Mickey and made him a participant in his games.

The knockout performance is provided by Beth Grant, who plays Lemac’s mother. Although she is only in one scene, Lemac’s mother can be felt whenever Mickey or Lemac visit the basement of his old family home, and her one scene is probably the scariest moment in the film, and is the catalyst for a bloody and brutal finale.

Verdict:

As you can probably tell, this low-key horror has been gnawing away at me for days after I watched it. It’s the kind of movie that although it kind of straightforward, gets under your skin. Whilst nowhere near as graphic as many horror movies about serial killers, The Ungodly does have a lot of uncomfortable moments not for the squeamish and a seedy atmosphere pervades the whole film.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)