Pernicious (2015) Review

Pernicious is the newest film from James Cullen Bressack (Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys) starring Ciara Hanna, Emily O’Brien and Jackie Moore. The plot concerns three young women who have decided to volunteer their time in Thailand teaching children English. Unfortunately for our three heroines the home they have been placed in contains a giant gold statue of a child whose angry spirit has been trapped within. It doesn’t take long for the spirit to escape and wreak havoc as she seeks vengeance for her death.

From the opening scene of the film I was immediately impressed with the look of the film. The film was shot on locations throughout Thailand which is a huge asset to the films production value. The house where the girls stay as well as the multiple locations they visit throughout the movie all feel genuine. I loved the beginning of the film as our three leads make their way by to their home starting by car and ending by boat. It perfectly sets up a sense of location without having to tell us through dialogue.

The cast is also quite good. From the leads to the supporting cast everyone does a fine job. It was also a relief that as the film progressed the three girls never become overly annoying or mean. They are never setup as characters we want to see die. That’s not to say they don’t have their moments but I never found myself rooting against them which, considering how modern horror films typically work, is a good thing.

The only issue I found myself having with the film was with its tone. There’s a point in the movie where it turns from a pretty standard supernatural story into a Hostel type film. There are some scenes of extreme torture and violence that come almost out of nowhere and were a bit jarring on my first viewing. The effects are all good and the gore hounds will be pleased but it went against my expectations and I think these scenes could probably be completely removed without harming the film at all. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good gory horror movie but Pernicious actually has a pretty cool premise and some genuine scares. There are scenes later on in the film where the spirit of the little girl is haunting our heroines and I was legitimately creeped out. I think everything would have gelled better had it stuck to one tone and gone with it but a repeat viewing may change my mind.

Despite finding the film a bit jarring at times I can say I enjoyed it. There’s really solid production value and the effects are well done. The cast is good and I found there to be several effective scares. Overall I can easily recommend checking out Pernicious.

Score: 3/5

Pernicious is due out in Theaters and VOD on June 19th, 2015.