Achoura (2018) Review
Following raves at Cinepocalypse, Brussels Fantastic Film Festival, Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival and more, North America gets to now witness the terrifying tale of a Moroccan legend
Four friends reconnect when one of them, who disappeared 25 years ago, suddenly comes back into their lives. Together, they will have to confront the terrifying events of their youth and fight a monstrous creature born of a horrible legend.
With both the film’s trailer and delicious poster art whetting my appetite for Franco-Moroccan film-maker Talal Selhami’s horror flick, I was more than a little disappointed to find myself watching a raw generic supernatural flick that mixes elements of David Fincher’s SE7EN and Stephen King’s IT, without displaying the thrills and spills of either.
Aside from the by-the-numbers plotting the effects work is mediocre, the child actors largely fail to convince and it’s just too difficult to afford the film the suspension of disbelief it requires to work. Elsewhere the adult performances are constantly overwrought and the script is muddled. It’s a shame as there was the gem of a good idea at the core of ACHOURA, it’s just a shame that little else came up to scratch.
OFFICIAL TRAILER
