‘The Offering’: The demon who eats children

Horror movies are more than used to seeing demons, exorcisms and other mythology related to the Christian tradition, especially with the Catholic branch. So draw attention when, from Hollywood productions, proposals arrive that exploit the folklore of other religions, such as the Jewish one. So “The Offer”considered Oliver Park’s first feature film, it attracts attention by also featuring a demonic figure unknown to the general public: Abyzou.

The tape, from its baffling prologue, is already alert to being faced with a story that seeks to give many scares. The premise narrates the return to the origins of Art, played by Nick Blood, who tries to reconcile with his father after his wife, Claire, played by Emily Wiseman, becomes pregnant. The goal of the family reunification is for his father to sell the family business, whose house of Hasidic Jewish tradition also serves as a funeral home, in order to pay off his debts. What seemed like an awkward money-related meeting ends up being a nightmare when I get home. a demon called Abyzou, who devours children and has a special fondness for those who have not yet been born.

Really, the approach was interesting, the fact that the protagonist has to reconnect with his Jewish roots and that manifests itself through an unknown demonic figure. Although, initially, the film is too reminiscent of ‘The Vegil’, in which Keith Thomas told, from a horror perspective, the ritual of Shemira, Shemira, which consists of watching over the corpse of a loved one before burial. The person in charge of protecting the body of the deceased is a shomer (if it is male) or a shomeret (if it is female).

But Park, who directs a screenplay signed by Hank Hoffman (also a novice), chooses to tell the story of Abyzou, female demon of Jewish tradition attributed to be responsible for spontaneous abortionsas well as the death of newborns. According to Jewish folklore, the reason both unborn and infants were taken away was because they were barren, hence the resentment towards women they could bear. Really, This approach has also attracted attention and when Park brings up the legend of Abyzou, that’s when the film gains interest.

A proposal of terror that gave more

However, the problem Park has is that he wants “The Offering” to be a conventional horror film, in which its protagonists have to face a supernatural threat by trampling a possessed house. The plot was seen a lot and the director had the chance to innovate with the break-in of Abyzou; but finally, strip of clichés, since it is an obvious proposal that manages to frighten some to the public thanks to the fact that he knows how to dose the moments of fear.

But it’s no wonder if the plot doesn’t match its moments of terror. It doesn’t help that the director isn’t clear on what he wants to tell and chooses to execute a story that’s too close to Antena 3’s desktop tapes. (Only the killer babysitter was missing and the pack was complete). Add to this that the film can no longer give a backstory to the fear of losing a child… and that she has had it easy, with a demon to whom miscarriages are attributed.

With some protagonists who don’t even convey much charisma, “The Offering” feels like a kind of brainstorming where some things work and some don’t. It falls far short of the recent horror offerings that have shown that there is room in the genre to offer truly scary titles, such as “Black Phone”, “Scream” or even “Smile”.

Note: 5

The best: The premise of seeing a horror story related to the demon Abyzou.

Worse: That the film goes no further and pulls for clichés.