One night, Hunter (Daniel Chace) meets mysterius Haldoun (Metin Uygun)
... and hands him a compass telling him to give it to his mother Lamia
(Gönen Bozbey) as a proof that he's still alive - because you see,
Haldoun is said to have drowned years ago, but since the evidence of his
death was not quite conclusive, his mother has never given up hoping that
he's still alive. Haldoun in turn has only kept alive because of some
ancient scriptures, which are presently in the possession of his mother
but which may contain the secrets of life and death which is why everybody
seems to want to get their hands on them. Thing is, the scriptures do not
only give prolonged life, thy are also highly addictive and turn people
into vampires.
Lamia wants to get to the bottom of it all, which is why she brings the
scriptures to her scientist friend Stepan and agrees to go to meet Haldoun
with Hunter ... but Haldoun soon takes away Hunter to another plane of
existence and proves to him that he, Hunter, is a vampire too, and much
longer than even he suspected. But it's not long before the two become
captives of a vampire cult led by child vampire queen Theodora, who also
want to get their hands on the scriptures, without which they are pretty
helpless, and they want to make Haldoun their messias, whether he wants it
or not.
Soon, Stepan is murdered because of the scriptures, as well as the
sect's second-in-command (who's really pulling the strings), and Lamia,
who has since retrieved the scriptures from Stepan, seems to lose all
interest in her probably alive son, caused maybe by the drugs her
boyfriend Ahmed has given her on a regular basis to submit her to his will
- which includes burning down her ancestral mansion for the insurance
money he needs for a business deal. In the end, Lamia does just that,
setting her house on fire ... starting with the ancient scriptures. And at
the same time, we see Haldoun, addicted to the words of the scriptures,
slowly passing away ...
To summarize The Serpent's Tale is not quite easy: The film
often defies the rules of linear narration, it's at times over-convoluted,
plottwists are not always properly explained, and new subplots are
introduced every few minutes. But that its screenplay is a bit of a mess
surprisingly enough does not work against the movie, quite the contrary,
its many weird, even surreal subplots make the film multilayered and quite
fascinating. Add to that an expert director who knows how to get the most
out of coloured filters and interesting camera setups and who has a
genuine talent for both suspense and atmosphere and you have a hell of a
creepy horror film. Confusing perhaps, but definitely effective.
Strongly recommended.
[Click
here to buy it directly from Onar Films]
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