Charismata

2017
TV-MA
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Nicole O'Neill, Andonis Anthony, Louis Hilyer, Ross Mullan, Sean Knopp, Tor Mian, Fernando Ruiz, Chris Roe, Christopher C.F. Chow, Sarah Beck Mather, Johnny Vivash, Thomas Williamson, Mark Knightley, Ryan Spong, Paul T. Horsfield, Ross Scaife, Dilyana Bouklieva, Dean Roberts, David J. Peel, Anna Papa, Ethan Chapples, Jamie Satterthwaite, Arabella Burfitt-Dons, Anthony Taylor, and Jane Adetona in Charismata (2017)

Psychological horror about a police detective whose sanity begins to unravel as she investigates a series of brutal ritualistic murders.Psychological horror about a police detective whose sanity begins to unravel as she investigates a series of brutal ritualistic murders.Psychological horror about a police detective whose sanity begins to unravel as she investigates a series of brutal ritualistic murders.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.6/10

695

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 8 wins & 8 nominations total

Photos19

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The original draft of the script was set in New York.

Goofs
Detectives interview security boss Dewire, who then offers refreshments. Faraway doesn't need any, but Sweet asks for coffee. Dewire tell he has no coffee dispenser, going to the backroom to make coffee.

In the same cut, and talking almost all the time, he returns with a cup of coffee about 45 seconds later.

That is record time, even if he had a coffee brewer loaded ready.

Connections
Referenced in Horror Hotel: The Ape at Horror Hotel (2018)

User reviews21

Review

Featured review

8/10

Great movie. Just not horror.

Even though there is probably no genre I watch more of, I do not expect too much from my low budget horror. Horror is almost a comfort blanket for me. Lots of time it's background ambiance. That might sound a bit sick and twisted but it's rare I sit up and pay attention to a low budget horror that hasn't been heavily publicized beforehand. There is just so much of it that in some ways I have become desensitized. Generally speaking I tune in and zoom out. So did Charismata make me sit up? Almost.

Charismata suffers from many of the usual pitfalls of the genre. This includes cheap and cheesy CGI and uneven acting. Crucially it is always engaging and excels in two important places.

First Sarah Beck Mather. Playing a British detective losing her mind as she investigates a murder, she is nothing short of sensational. I don't know how well known she is in the UK but I hope to see more of her in the US in the future. The other performances are not bad on the whole. Just more in keeping with what you expect from the genre. The lead though is fantastic and it's not hyperbole to say it is one of the best performances I have seen all year. A star is born. Or at least deserves to be.

Second. Apart from a strange misstep this is one of the best written horror films I have seen in some time. The dialogue sings and while there is nothing entirely original here I was still left guessing until the end.

The most important question when assessing a horror film is it scary?

Sadly, not really. There is an interesting lurid tone, a couple of average jump scares but noting made my skin crawl or my heart race. I would hesitate to even call it a horror. It's much closer to a murder mystery or a quirky Cohen brothers drama set in England. It reminded me more of A Barton Fink or Fargo than it did a Conjuring or Hereditary. This is not a bad thing. In fact it can be taken as a compliment. Just don't pretend it's something that it isn't.

6/10 if you are going in wanting a low budget horror fix.

8/10 if you just want an usual and entertaining movie.