 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Moloch • Year: 2022 • Country: Netherlands • Director: Nico van den Brink • Main cast: Sallie Harmsen, Alexandre Willaume, Noor van der Velden, Fred Goessens, Anneke Blok • Runtime: 99 minutes • Production company: NL Film • TRAILER
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Moloch is a mythological creature that first appeared in the Hebrew Bible. And, as they say in the movie of the same name, it was primarily known for the people’s children as offerings. So that’s pretty much what happens in Moloch (2022), where for generations a family is cursed to keep offering sacrifices to the deity.
Moloch (2022) is the perfect example of a folklore horror movie. placed in rural Holland, the action starts when a group of archeologists digging in a farmer’s land make the discovery of a mummified woman. Betriek already had an experience with the supernatural and those bloody sacrifices when she was only a little girl, so now she fears her parents might be also in danger. The entire town takes her as a young crazy woman speaking nonsense, but perhaps the truth proves otherwise.
The movie is always intriguing, sinking the audience in the cold woods of the region. Most of the actions of the movie occur in the dark hours, so the deliciously obscure photography makes good work in creating the atmosphere that takes us deep into the story.
The development of the story grows in an organic way, constantly adding new clues to what is going on but always keeping the mystery. The four key elements for a great atmosphere in a horror movie of these sorts, which to me are a solid script, efficient direction, intriguing cinematography, and an involving score are present in the movie during the entire running time.
Nico van den Brink debuts as the director of a feature film with Moloch (2022), a great example of horror moviemaking, and a very engaging piece of entertainment. His multiple awards-winner short film The Burden (2019), also known as Het Juk in its original Dutch language, already showed the direction and the crafts of a filmmaker with a good eye and a taste for taking daily stuff like family and folkloric legends into celluloid nightmares.
From the acting, including the debutant very young Noor van der Velden, to more technical aspects like the already mentioned cinematography, direction, soundtrack, and even the locations, both outdoors and indoors, make Moloch (2022) a very entertaining piece of horror, an enjoyable movie that surely will satisfy the followers of the genre, away from easy cheesy frights, dumb creatures, and foolish stories that seem to overpopulate the industry nowadays. A good sample of pure horror, which could be taken in the most classic way, appealing, engaging, and even necessary.
Moloch (2022) had released in the Netherlands in May 2022 and is available as part of the Shudder catalog since July 21, 2022.
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt14412446
