The horror movie Night of the Bastard (2022) has been called a “grimy, brutal take on the 70s action thriller“, and seeing the trailer one can understand the reason for that reference. The theme and the crude essence of the images evoke that nostalgic feeling when movies used to take no boundaries and cruelty was taking place if needed. So, if you miss the feeling that titles like The Wicker Man (1973) or Witchfinder General (1968) left on your body maybe you should take a look at Night of the Bastard (2022).
In the movie, after an injured young woman takes refuge in his secluded home, a gruff recluse must fight off a bloodthirsty cult and an insatiable sorceress to save both of their lives. A battle to survive becomes a gripping race against the clock to escape a perverse ritual of blood and flesh.
This is the debut feature film of Erik Boccio, who achieved several awards with his horror short films Blood Bath (2016) and Brutal Realty, Inc. (2019). He is also the executive producer and writer of the story. The screenplay has been written by Chuck Foster and Christian Ackerman, who were behind the horror comedy Joe Bob’s Haunted Drive-In (2020).
The main cast in Night of the Bastard (2022) is formed by London May, Mya Hudson, Hannah Pierce, Henry Mortensen, Victoria Goodhart, Wesley Doloris, George Garcia, Eric Spudic, Cesar Cipriano, Philip Rossi, Avery Joy Davis, and Mig Windows.
Night of the Bastard (2022) had its world premiere at FrightFest, and it has been also part of other genre festivals like the Sitges Film Festival. It has been praised for its grindhouse feeling and quoted as “a blood-soaked cult-infested movie” by Movie Reviews 101.
Dark Sky Films has the distribution rights for the movie and released it on Friday the 13th, 2023, in selected theaters and digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video.
Watch here the official trailer for Night of the Bastard (2022).
