Starring Sallie Harmsen, Alexandre Willaume, Anneke Blok, Fred Goessens, Noor van der Velden and Markoesa Hamer. Written by Nico van den Brink and Daan Bakker. Directed by Nico van den Brink. Produced by Sabine Brian and Dennis Cornelisse. NL Film/Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO)
Betriek (Harmsen) lives in an area close to the edge of ancient bogland. Her family has suffered from a history of tragedies, and Betriek starts to suspect that the deaths of her relatives are somehow linked to the local legend concerning a wronged servant called Feike who made a pact with the demon Moloch – or maybe the preserved female corpses recently discovered in the nearby peat deposits are part of the puzzle…
This Dutch movie uses its often foggy and gloomy swampy locations effectively, and employs the archeological dig aspects of the plotline to inject extra mystery into the story.
Matters become more intriguing once various normal people are somehow compelled to become would-be killers, attacking Betriek and her mother in trance-like states.
With mask-wearing cultists lurking about, and the spirits of murdered women emerging from the misty peat bog, the answer to the movie’s central enigma is finally revealed, and – even though it doesn’t properly explain the behaviours of the possessed would-be assassins or clarify if there is a causal link between the supernatural plot elements and the local pagan folks – the finale does give viewers a suitably striking set piece ending to remember.
The acting is fine, the cinematography is good, the local cultists in their bull masks look cool, and the slit-throated sacrificial bog bodies provide the movie with some memorable imagery.
You know, the more I think about it, the more I come to believe that any film featuring bog bodies is worth a watch!
Monster Zone 