Its Name Was Mormo (2024) Review
Its Name Was Mormo (2024) Review
A young family’s life unravels into chaos as a sinister presence targets each member in its own malicious way. Through the lens of police evidence, Mark, Diana, and Mia endure the torment of a demon deeply rooted in Greek mythology.
ITS NAME WAS MORMO began by documenting the experiences of a young family settling into their new home. Initially not intended for release, the story transformed after the discovery of a dilapidated village, which led to an impromptu production. As the unscripted narrative unfolded, the filmmakers encountered unusual occurrences off-camera.
The production’s turbulence peaked as Greek symbolism was incorporated into their home, leaving Marcela with the unsettling feeling of being observed, leading her to keep the curtains drawn day and night. Mark experienced the unsettling sensation of a presence beside him, while their puppy Romeo frequently barked into dark corners and whined while pacing in circles. These occurrences were woven into the fabric of the production as the family’s unsettling experiences fuelled their determination to complete the project swiftly, eager to return to normalcy.
This handmade film marks the directorial debut of Mark Andrew Bowers, who also stars in the project alongside Mia Bowers and Diana Cardenas. This trio’s intimate family connection adds a deeply personal layer to the narrative, with Bowers guiding both his daughter and wife through the film’s tense and terrifying narrative.
As regular visitors to my site will now, found footage flicks leave me cold so when I was making my notes for reviewing purposes during my viewing of ITS NAME WAS MORMO, they tended to be laced with a huge amount of derision and cynicism. The genre is limited by its own format so there is a lot here that will feel familiar to both fans and naysayers of found footage alike. ITS NAME WAS MORMO reminds one consistently of the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise and also has a muddled and confused ending that recalls the final moments of 1999’s THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
What sets ITS NAME WAS MORMO apart from the rest of the pack is that the core threesome makes for an engaging combo, hugely different from the usual shrill, irritating youngsters that can’t ad-lib to save their lives, and director Mark Andrew Bowers recognises that less is indeed more. Rather than have characters talk us to death with exposition, here silence counts, and that silence works a treat, eliciting the sort of tension and under-the-skin creepiness that many of its genre counterparts aim for but fail to get.
Elsewhere it is found footage silliness as usual, with people saying things like ‘I don’t like this place’ and then deciding to spend somewhere longer, or talking to camera and remarking that they are things going bump in the night when it is would appear that those bumps would actually be as a consequence of Diana jumping out of bed in the dead of night and thumping around the house with a camera, then gasping and whimpering in horror at the inside of their chimney – perhaps she realised it needed a clean – breathing as heavily as someone who smokes forty Marlboro cigarettes a day.
We are told that they are in the middle of nowhere and have no local support network (citing that there is a massive cultural difference – no really!) and this is effect telling the viewer that they are ON THEIR OWN. Apparently mobile phones, internet or local emergency services are all impacted by ‘massive cultural differences’ too, as none of these tools are utilised or called upon.
It’s that POLTERGEIST thing all over again, rather than leave they stay and put their selves through the wringer more. There is loud violent pounding on your front door in the dead of night. Are you going to call the police? No, apparently returning to bed to sleep is considered to be the appropriate response, as if you could sleep after that had happened! Then there’s the mysterious box that they found and brought back with them from the ruins. This box scares them and terrible things have happened since they brought it back to the house. So, do they remove it from their home and return it to where they originally found it? No, instead they throw a cup of coffee all over it in a moment of panic.
Aside from these niggles, which pale in number to the niggles I have with several other found-footage flicks, ITS NAME WAS MORMO is a solid genre entry. It is by no means perfect however as a non-fan of the genre it kept me engaged throughout. I was curious to see how things played out and I just loved the almost static moments of cameras capturing nothingness and milking the associated silence for every inch of tension possible, moments guaranteed to send chills up one’s spine.
ITS NAME WAS MORMO made its theatrical debut on November 9. It will be released on digital on November 26. In addition, a Spanish-language version featuring the original actors will also be available at launch, broadening its reach to a wider audience.
