Being a horror fan and a DVD reviewer, I watch a lot of really badly made, low budget horror movies, hoping that they live up to the description on the back of the box. I mean there are some bad ones out there. I think it is fair to say that the horror genre probably has more low budget releases a year than any other type of film if you think about it. Sometimes you get lucky though when you take a chance on a movie that sounds good and has a cool cover and it makes it all worth while. Such was the case this evening for me. I watched The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine and enjoyed every second of it. This low budget film was shot in Germany by horror director and special effects whiz Olaf Ittenbach…oh and did I mention he also wrote the story?

The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine starts out on Christmas Eve as a father tucks his daughter in bed and walks out of the room. At the one minute mark on the disc, all hell breaks lose as someone unleashes a brutal massacre that ends the lives of almost everyone in the commune where the father and daughter live. Everyone dies except for young Rebecca, who is stabbed and goes into a state of coma for two years. When she wakes, she has total amnesia and cannot remember anything. She is then adopted by her loving aunt and uncle who raise her as their own. As we flash forward 10 years later, Rebecca’s memories start to return slowly, haunting her and making her question her sanity. Ok, this is a review and not a plot synopsis so pick up the movie and watch the rest yourself.

I have to start off by saying the practical special effects are fantastic. In an age where everyone relies on CGI, Ittenbach produces fantastic gore and realistic makeup on a very modest budget. If you are a gore hound, you have to watch this one, just for a couple of really well done sequences.

Moving on to the acting, it was ok. There were no overly bad performances, however, there were no career launching roles either. This didn’t hurt the film as it is not really a performance driven story. With that smooth segue into the actual plot of the film, we will press forward. I liked the story and thought it was well done. There were a few twists, nothing of Sleepaway Camp proportions but the story progressed at a steady pace and there were a few well placed twists along the way. It was a perfect vehicle to showcase the special effects and gore sequences in the movie. The camera work on this film was, in my opinion, great. I loved the creepy atmosphere on the interior shots. It added an element of suspense as you waited for the next hellish vision to appear as Rebecca slowly starts to question her sanity. The tones of the film captured the German countryside quite well and the quality of the finished film was very good. Overall I am a little surprised that with the boost of foreign horror titles such as Inside and Let the Right One In, that this film is not more widely heralded as one not to miss.

In conclusion, buy it, watch it, enjoy it, re-watch it. I highly recommend this for horror fans.

The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine is available courtesy of MTI Video and is available now.

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