Rent It!
Summary
An ambitious little John Carpenter-esque genre film with an extremely limited budget, Black Site is something that might appeal to forgiving viewers who enjoy hard edged action and horror films from the ’80s, though they’ll have to spend quite a bit of goodwill to it due to its many shortcomings.
Plot: An elite military unit encounters a supernatural entity, known as The Elder Gods, that forces them into battle against an army from another world.
Review: Humanity has had a massive undertaking in dealing with The Elder Gods from outer dimensions that threaten the very existence of all life on earth. Using magic, humanity has harnessed the power to expel the malevolent, Cthulu-type gods into space where they belong, but over time the magic they’ve been using has weakened, giving the gods a bit of an edge. One day in 1997, one of the elder gods finds itself a “meat suit” (a human host) and plans on wreaking some wrath on humanity for a sleight against it years ago, but a tough team of agents trap it in the Artemis Black Site, a sprawling underground redoubt where they prepare to expel it from earth. But before they can do so, a human cult of the god’s worshippers invade the facility, with the intent on releasing the god from its magic-enforced cage and allowing it to do as it wills. It’s up to the dwindling team of agents to ensure the safety of the world by killing the cult and forcing the elder god to return from whence it came.
An ambitious little John Carpenter-esque genre film with an extremely limited budget, Black Site is something that might appeal to forgiving viewers who enjoy hard edged action and horror films from the ’80s, though they’ll have to spend quite a bit of goodwill to it due to its many shortcomings. At times the film feels correct in its foreboding sense of dread and style, but most of the time it’s obvious that the filmmakers aren’t there yet with their craft. The script isn’t very sharp or interesting, and the one-location setting just doesn’t look right for a government facility intended for expelling Elder Gods into outer space. Some of the fight choreography is okay, but the actors and performers in the film can’t measure up to professional status the likes of which this movie desperately needs. At times the synth wave score is rad and makes you think you’re watching something way cooler, but again, the best parts of the movie don’t align with the rest of the weaker elements of the film. The concept is okay, but the execution leaves you wanting. From writer / director Tom Patton.
The blu ray (just released) includes a director’s commentary, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes, and trailers.
