Elves (2018)

Elves: Directed by Jamaal Burden. With Stephanie Marie Baggett, Chelsea Bella, Lori Bocanegro, David Cazeres. When a group of friends discover ancient elves locked in a cursed chest, they unknowingly unleash their wrath on the world.

“u0026quot;Elvesu0026quot; is a mash-up of horror tropes, loosely wrapped in bad holiday spectacle. The story plays on the concept set forth in 2017u0026#39;s u0026quot;The Elfu0026quot; only in the weakest of manner. Choosing instead to move in more creative avenues, u0026quot;Elvesu0026quot; throws in demonic possession and mysterious masked slasher cheer – just in case psychotic killer elf dolls werenu0026#39;t enough of a holiday melody in nightmare.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acting is a mix bag of choppy dialog, contrived emotion, and incoherent exposition. There are some moments when the cast hit the mark, but mostly the drama and action alike seem a symphony of sterilized animatronic directives – none of which show any understanding of character motivation. Either from talent level or storytelling capabilities who knows. I venture a bit of both. Normally you accept some lax in degree of quality in acting ability -acceptable, but usually good writing and quality content balances it out. u0026quot;Elvesu0026quot; fails in all three categories. : (u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cinematography is decent enough and sound is quality for the most part , even though it is drawn from a very stereotypical pallet. Still it works. Special effects are a blend of practical and CGI choices. The kills arenu0026#39;t inventive, but they are fun. As many horror elements fail, as do work. Budget restraint is noticeable but u0026quot;Elvesu0026quot; has a few good kill sequences. Sadly though many of the elements that play out in this holiday horror fall flat. Overall u0026quot;Elvesu0026quot; is disappointing, even for low budget indie horror”