Review

It would be difficult to imagine anyone watching Erza: Fear of a Faceless God and coming out of it thinking that the film was just "more of the same." It is definitely not. Director Hugo Fernandez creates a visually spellbinding (and claustrophobic) landscape through his use of shadows and generous color correcting. IN fact, as "different" as the picture often looks, it sometimes felt as if his refusal to leave images as they were recorded was due more to a distaste for the flat, immediacy of digital video rather than as a stylistic choice. Still, with the creative rut that the horror community has been suffering from lately, Erza should be a welcome change of pace.

The story follows Davin (Adam Henry Garcia), a Long Island man who's recently uncovered documents indicating that his father had committed multiple serial murders with the help of an accomplice, Erza (Annet Mahendru). Davin travels to Hungary to find Erza in a mental institution where she recounts her tale of "evil" from the time that Davin's father abducted and tortured her to the time of his death. Erza's tale (the bulk of the film's running time) is intercut with creepy music, disturbing flashbacks to torture, some heavy metal and text quotes from famous serial killers. Mahendru's stunning beauty combined with Fernandez's unusual visual style and ability to create mood with very little in the way of financial resources make Erza a memorable and interesting view. Fans of creative, non-tongue-in-cheek low-budget horror should definitely pick this one up.

 -- Daniel Reed