Movie Review: HE NEVER LEFT

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: November 1st, 2024 / 12:07 AM

HE NEVER LEFT movie poster | ©2024 Epic Pictures/Dread

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Colin Cunningham, Jessica Staples, James Morris, Sean Hunter, David E. McMahon, Charla Bocchicchio, William McAllister, Jake Watters
Writer: James Morris, story by James Morris & Michael Ballif & Colin Cunningham
Director: James Morris
Distributor: Epic Pictures/Dread
Release Date: November 1, 2024 (theatrical), November 5, 2024 (VOD)

At the beginning of HE NEVER LEFT, an onscreen set of titles informs us that the small town of Larsen City has been plagued by murders and disappearances at the hands of a masked killer. In 1997, he stopped … but the community never truly healed …

We then see a young woman being stabbed to death by a masked figure in a black outfit.

After this, we see a car driving down a two-lane highway surrounded by beautiful autumn foliage. What appears to be a mid-sized town is up ahead, and later we see houses separated, as though in a rural area.

Then we’re with Carly (Jessica Staples), as she checks into the Skyline Hotel, a one-story set of connected suites. It is a cash-only establishment; fortunately, Carly has cash.

Carly, it turns out, is transporting her boyfriend Gabriel Gaspari (Colin Cunningham) in her trunk. As soon as the coast is clear, she gets him into the room she’s rented,

Carly is evidently less worried about being heard than being seen, as she proceeds to throw various objects at Gabriel. She is angry about being dragged into his problems, which stem from a robbery gone wrong.

For his part, Gabriel is sniffy and twitchy, suggesting a drug habit, although we never see him take anything. He is self-righteous if somewhat incoherent in his defensive declarations to Carly.

Left alone in the hotel room, Gabriel hears what sounds like a rape/murder in the next room. Although he has a handgun, he doesn’t investigate. Instead, he demands that Carly find him another hiding place.

Gabriel is the sort of character that might show up for five to ten minutes in a HALLOWEEN movie. In HE NEVER LEFT, he’s the protagonist. That’s a problem, since we’re supposed to be afraid for him. He’s meant to eventually engage our sympathy, but he is such a jerk for so long that it’s hard to switch emotional gears for him.

As the U.S. Marshals pursuing him point out, Gabriel isn’t especially bright, so he’s not entertaining us with strategy. He’s so freaked out and jumpy that a serial slasher lurking nearby doesn’t generate the tension that it should.

Director/writer James Morris, working from a story he crafted with Michael Ballif & actor Cunningham, has some nice visuals, including a good take on the actual mask.

The sound mix is impressive, with TV in the other room so realistically positioned that it seems to be coming from outside the film. The score by Randin Graves is also powerful.

There are a number of horror films about minor criminals who come up against major psychopaths or outright monsters. It’s a premise with plenty of potential mileage, but it doesn’t fully pay off in HE NEVER LEFT.

There are several coincidences that are noticeable because they’re so big that it seems like they’re going to be plot points, and then they aren’t. For example, much is made of how far Larsen City is from the site of Gabriel’s crime, so he and Carly figure no one will look for him here, but then the Marshals (one played by filmmaker Morris, the other played by Sean D. Hunter) discover that he applied for a job in town.

We also get some revelations, including during and after the end credits, that don’t shed much light on what we’ve been watching. Even the HE NEVER LEFT aspect suggested by the title doesn’t have much impact, since it’s hard to see how this affects the action.

HE NEVER LEFT has unusually good production values for a movie that looks like it was made on a tight budget. It’s too bad that the narrative isn’t as strong its technical craft.

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Latest Buzz

Movie Review: HE NEVER LEFT

Masked slasher vs. fugitive jerk

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: HE NEVER LEFT

Related

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Assignment X Poll

Newsletter subscription status

Latest Buzz

Movie Review: HE NEVER LEFT

Masked slasher vs. fugitive jerk

Article Source: Assignment X Article: Movie Review: HE NEVER LEFT

Related

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Assignment X Poll

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: HE NEVER LEFT