Cornelio Sunny dabbles in J-horror for his directorial debut in Death Knot from Well Go USA Entertainment. After the sudden suicide of their estranged mother, Hari (Cornelio Sunny), and his sister Eka (Widika Sidmore), return to their hometown to put their matriarch’s affairs in order.
Upon arriving in their hometown and along with Eka’s beau, the siblings come into contact with angry villagers who try to intimidate them. Consequently, the locals believed that the woman was a devotee of a dangerous form of black magic deemed responsible for a string of mysterious deaths over many years.
The locals that the siblings leave and allow the burning of their childhood home, which they believe will rid the town of the curse. Even though the siblings are initially skeptical, the string of strange occurrences that occur leads them to think there is more truth to the rumors than they ever dreamed was possible.
I’ll keep it short and straightforward with the review that Death Knot is a slow-burning horror film. For his first film, Cornelio wants to avoid gore and instead focus on tension. I will credit Gunnar Nimpuno’s cinematography style for setting up a sense of dread, but the film is never remotely scary, and most viewers will forget the movie when the credits roll.
Cornelio Sunny does deserve kudos for what he’s accomplished with such a small budget. With the proper guidance, he will get better in the horror genre.
Final Grade: C-
Death Knot is available on Digital, Blu-ray™, and DVD on January 17th
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