At the recommendation of a friend, I jumped on Netflix today and downloaded the 2009 dark comedy/horror flick Lo. Written and directed by Travis Betz, this flick is as interesting as it was entertaining.
The premise of the film is pretty intriguing in itself: a man summons a demon to find his girlfriend, who was kidnapped by other demons and carried off to hell. That's one plot line that I've never heard before... sounds interesting?
The film starts with a man, Justin, sitting in the center of a detailed/ornate pentagram on the floor, lighting various candles around him. At his lap is something that looks an awful bit like the fucking Necronomicon. He opens it to a page titled "Lo", which has a creepy looking drawing of a demon on it. His place marker is a picture of a girl, presumably his girlfriend.
He then takes the necessary steps to conjure up the demon- cutting his hand, chanting weird words and shit like that. Lo and behold (ha-ha), everything works and Lo (Jeremiah Birkett) is summoned. A creepy looking demon with a bald head and no nose (Lord Voldemort?), Lo has great powers- he displays them by summoning this rat looking demon and making its head explode.
Justin informs Lo that he summoned the creature for a girl and love, much to the displeasure of the demon. It turns out the previous owner of Justin's Necronomicon was his girlfriend April, who was captured/kidnapped/stolen by some demons.
We go on, with the clever use of flashbacks set like a play, to see how Justin and April met, watch a strange prom-style band (Jeez and the Go 2 Hellz) play a song about how the Devil crated a demon girl (April?), see a mind-reading hand wound, and other events in the relationship of April and Justin.
The humor in this movie is pretty damn funny. Justin (Ward Roberts) never really seems like he knows what the hell he's doing- he obviously shouldn't be meddling in the supernatural, especially in the dark arts. The dialogue is also pretty funny, particularly on Lo's end. Some highlights include him showing off his powers and then saying to Justin, "Now... clean the shit from your pants and tell me what you want." Or when Justin reveals his girlfriend was kidnapped by demons, shows Lo a gruesome claw wound on his chest and Lo replies "Are you sure it wasn't a bear? I heard they're getting braver these days."
However, the most ridiculous line of the movie (and there were a lot) was when the demon who kidnapped April told Justin that, "You can't summon two demons at once! It would be like trying to fuck two girls with one dick... shish kabob."
The utter lack of respect that Lo has for Justin is also funny, with the demon constantly putting him down; He refers to him only as "little bitch" and "dinner" throughout the film.
While it was full of plenty "what the fuck?" moments, this film struck me as both entertaining (highly entertaining) and very unique. It was set in one room (for the most part), which gave the feeling of a play you might see on Broadway (or any local theater, really)- this idea is further established by the flashbacks in the film, which take place on a stage, red curtain and all. The special effects were at a minimum, which made the film that much better. Lack of effects made the story, dialogue and acting all that much more interesting and, in my opinion, better- the focus was on the bare essentials, not flash and dazzle.
Great acting, great story, great characters... this films was... well, pretty great. A new and interesting twist on the classic Love Story genre (as well as the ending), this is one film I would recommend to anyone.
3.5 out of 5
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