Some
years ago, director Marcel
Sarmiento directed the disturbingly odd and transgressive, blackly humorous
horror flick, Deadgirl (2008 / trailer), which, due to its decidedly exploitation-film
elements, arguably upset too many people to ever find a mainstream audience or
general popularity. Totem, his first
feature-length directorial project since then, is far more standard in its
supernatural horror narrative than the zombie sexual horror of Deadgirl, but nevertheless also manages,
at the end, to suddenly slip in a quick dash of disturbing sexuality that succeeds
in putting the viewer uncomfortably on edge — far more than most of the movie's
extremely traditional horror elements that precede the unexpected resolution. Despite
being far more accessible on the whole than Deadgirl, Totem pretty
much tanked when released and quickly slid into oblivion.
Totem opens with a shock and a splash, though
the event shown should probably have been more clearly marked as occurring
prior to the rest of the movie. But soon enough the viewer realizes that the opening
violent death is that of the mother — and thus a tale unfolds that is hardly
new: a few years later, just when daddy James (James Tupper of Beneath Us [2019 / trailer]) decides that the time has come for his artist
girlfriend Robin (Ahna O'Reilly of Sleepwalker
[2017 / trailer]) to move in and join the family, his
decidedly non-chill oldest daughter Kellie (Kerris Dorsey), who has pretty much
taken over the maternal role within the family, is suddenly confronted by a
seemingly evil presence out to harm the family. Thus family drama meets supernatural
horror as Kellie tries to discover the what and the why of the dangers her
family now faces.
Whether the inter-familial drama and difficulties
resulting from daddy moving on or Kellie's realization and exploration of the
sudden appearance of the supernatural threat, the elements of the plot are
indeed nothing new. What saves the movie is the convincing acting and surprisingly tightly drawn characters — the latter is particularly
noteworthy, for none are really fleshed out enough for them to be as convincing
and "real" as they are. True, Kellie's high-school sports background
is given some focus, but what dad does other than being daddy (e.g., how he
puts bacon on the table, for example) is never broached, and while Robin is
said to be an artist and even moves her sculptures into the house, she never
seems to be actively creative. They, like the youngest daughter Abby (Lia
McHugh of The Lodge [2019 / trailer]), all simply agitate within the setting, coming forward as
needed, but are also far more present as people than the sketchiness of their
respective part should allow. Ditto with, Kellie's boyfriend Todd (Braeden Lemasters of The Stepfather [2009 / trailer]), who is
never anything more than an unnaturally understanding and perfect boyfriend,
even if he does now and then assist in advancing the plot (e.g., he is the
source that explains exactly what a totem is, and how it could be the source of
the supernatural threat). Nevertheless, he like every other stock character of
the tale is acted with such conviction that he achieves a presence that makes
his final fate all the more tragic — although the movie's twist also makes him
obvious fodder in retrospect.
It is arguable whether Totem deserves its ignominiously quick fate of total obscurity, for
despite its by-the-numbers plot development, Totem manages to be as surprisingly involving as it is well-acted,
far more so than many a far more popular horror movie. Likewise, while most of
the shocks and special effects do lean towards the cheap and cheesy, the final
money shot(s) don't lack in punch and effective realism, not to mention some
cringe-inducing ick-factor moments of
icky sexuality. Totem is an entirely watchable movie.
In the end, however, the mainstream mediocrity of the
first two-thirds of Totem
overshadows the final shocks and the sucker-punch of the unexpected socially
transgressive twist so important to the movie's resolution. This, in turn,
substantially mitigates the movie's overall effectiveness — especially since
that once the twist is revealed, certain prior events (like the fate of the cat)
no longer make any sense. Totem may
never bore, but despite its ability to hold the viewer's interest and the violence
and ick-factor arising in its final
moments, on the whole Totem feels
more like a surprisingly good pay-TV movie than a feature film.
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