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The Unhealer
USA 2020
produced by Galen Walker, Cristi Harris, J. Shawn Harris, Tony Hannagan, James Gardner (executive), Hamish Gibson (executive) for 7 Ideas, Gard Dog Productions, Sunset Pictures, Bloodstone Films
directed by Martin Guigui
starring Elijah Nelson, Kayla Carlson, Adam Beach, Chris Browning, Branscombe Richmond, Cristi Harris, Lance Henriksen, Natasha Henstridge, David Gridley, Gavin Casalegno, Will Ropp, Angeline Appel, Thomas Archer, Mike Gray, Kevin E. West, Dahlia Waingort Guigui, Corbin Timbrook, Shelby Janes, Shauna Wright, Ava Gardner (II), Ian Fisher, Linda Rae Jurgens, Dave Cobert, Dejzon Walker, Craig Hensley, Tommy Goodwin, Esther Guigui, Justin Dean Jones, Michael Hauser, Con Schell, Bain Boudreau
written by Kevin E. Moore, J. Shawn Harris, music by Marc Vanocur
review by Mike Haberfelner
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High school student Kelly (Elijah Nelson) has two problems, for one
he's the constant punching ball for his school's head bully Nelson (David
Gridley) and Nelson's gang - Tony (Will Ropp), Brad (Thomas Archer),
Tucker (Mike Gray) and Nelson's kid brother Reed (Gavin Casalegno) -, and
the other that his eating habit (consisting mainly of cardboard) have him
so malnourished he's on the verge of dying. Having tried everything else,
his mother Bernice (Natasha Henstridge) calls upon miracle healer Pflueger
(Lance Henriksen). Now trying to heal Kelly actually kills Pflueger - but
not before he passes his powers (stolen from a Native American shaman
[Branscombe Richmond]) on to the boy, powers that include instant healing,
and making those feel the pain who inflict it. Now this is of course a
perfect his perfect defense against Nelson and company, as now all their
attacks backfire - so much so that they decide to drive him off the
street. And they actually run them over doing so, just it's not him but
the driver, Brad, who dies in the process. So Nelson and his friends come
up with an idea to have their revenge on Kelly, to prank him by pulling
the trailer he and his mother live in off its suspensions. It sounds
harmless enough, but results in a gas leak that results in the trailer
blowing up, Kelly's mother inside. Kelly returning tries to pull her from
the fire, and even though he succeeds - what with him being invulnerable
-, she dies in his arms. Now for a time, this heroic action makes Kelly
the town hero, and it sure helps him winning over the girl of his dreams
Dominique (Kayla Carlson), but it becomes more and more apparent that it
was not just a mere accident but foul play the trailer blew up, and quite
rightly, Kelly suspects Nelson and company - and soon comes up with a plan
to have his revenge on them ...
Now I'm almost sure my synopsis makes The Unhealer
sound like little more than another by-the-numbers supernatural slasher -
but while the film of course can't fully shake its slasher roots, what
really makes it is its weird, even absurd and otherworldly twang, that's
much more reminiscent of films like Donnie
Darko than any stalk'n'slash routine. And the direction really
supports this other-wordliness, allows it to flourish, while the script
with progressing runtime develops more and more ambiguity towards its
characters, another aspect that helps break the slasher mold. On top of
that, a strong ensemble cast keeps things grounded, rounding out a pretty
cool genre effort.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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