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Hannah (Emma Eliza Regan) doesn't have an easy life these days: She has
never gotten over the fact that her mum (Elaine Kennedy) killed herself
after her dad (Zeb Moore) cheated on her, yet still lives with her dad,
and now dad has invited Jake (Shane Robinson), the son of the woman he
cheated on his wife with, to live with them for a while. She's also
harrassed by sleazy cop Eugene (Conor Marren) and she hates her dead end
waitress job, especially because of her choleric boss Rodney (Nigel
Mercier). If it wasn't for her two colleagues Alice (Dominique Swain) and
Joe (Adam Weafer), who are also her best friends, she would have long lost
her marbles. So when one day at an antique shop she's gifted a Yantra
board - a special kind of Ouija board - by its owner (Michael Parle),
she's all too happy to accept. When she tries it out with Alice and Joe
that evening though, the three of them soon have the feeling the thing is
more than just a plaything but has some actual powers - they're just
unsure which. But the board has told them Eugene would die in a day or so
- and then he actually kills himself, slitting his own throat with a
broken bottle, right in front of them in the café they work at. And when
Rodney later loses his cool over the accident, he suddenly starts banging
his head on the café's counter until he's dead. Also, Jake eventually
kills himself in a rather freakish manner - and eventually our trio learn
the story of the board, that it is possessed by Horace Granger (Ketan
Anand), who more than hundred years ago killed someone to help a friend
(Jan Graveson), but was rejected by that friend. After that he lived in
self-chosen solitude and studied the black arts - and might now be
possessing the Yantra board trying to make friends by killing their
enemies. Now while this knowledge might be invaluable, it says little of
how to get rid of the thing before everybody around Hannah dies horrible
deaths ...
Now while the premise of this movie might sound rather
far-fetched even by horror standards, it's actually written and structured
solidly enough to bring the story across rather hitchlessly. And of
course, a stylish and athmospheric directorial effort, one that doesn't
shy away from occasional outbursts of violence, helps to keep the viewer
engaged, as does a strong ensemble cast. A pretty cool piece of genre
entertainment, actually.
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