by Back in May of this year we brought you news and the trailer of Pearry Teo’s Pale Horse. I’m thrilled to be back tonight with a review of the film!
Pale Horse Synopsis
In one of his final films, late director Pearry Reginald Teo weaves a horrific web of intrigue. When mysterious artist Sabian takes over an art gallery basement for his own personal painting studio, he has two eerie stipulations: no one must enter while he’s at work; and all his assistants must be blind. As Sabian pursues wealth and fame through artistic endeavors, a series of odd encounters, unexplained occurrences, and strange visions befall all in his path. Will Sabian succeed, or end up subservient to the sinister forces at work?
This psychological horror film stars Chris Connell, Perish Dignam, Taylor Plecity, Alexandra Bard, and Eileen Dietz, the legendary demon face from the one of the scariest films ever made, The Exorcist (1973).
Art, Love, and Dark Magic come together in this gothic tale of an eccentric man who summons a vengeful spirit to manifest his desires and make him a great artist.
Produced by: Kim Durham, Maria Durham, S.Wayne Durham
Pale Horse – Thoughts and Recommendation
I sat down over a couple of evenings to watch Pale Horse. Even after watching the trailer, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect here. Yes, I knew I was going to get a creepy voodoo centric story but what I wasn’t expecting was a story that wove creepy, love, blood and a dash of ‘what the fuck’ together so well.
I’m not going to bother with a plot summary for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t want to spoil the film and two I’m not sure I could really do it justice without going into a ton of detail. Instead I’ll give you just a few of my notes from my viewings. Consider these ‘stream of consciousness’ thoughts as I watched the film.
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Opening credits – voo doo painting?
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Artist’s name is Sabian. Very private.
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They go to Sabian’s place and… play music together?
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He said he brought her there cause she could hear his thoughts. creepy…she leaves.
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‘Girl’ comes out of nowhere with voice inflection making it very hard to understand.
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Voodoo lady says to ‘start the ceremony’ – Sabian puts on goat(?) head and then we see guy from alley in his apt.
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Voodoo lady shows up, makes him bleed (kills him?) and then we’re back to Sabian’s place…
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Super bizarre – strangely enjoying quite a bit
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Man in Black shows up at gallery… gives eve a warning about Sabian.
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Sabian has Eve over to play / paint. Sex. Voodoo lady know this is going on… is she losing Sabian to Eve?
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Eve goes into Sabina’s private room. Sneezes into the dust and then goes into Voodoo land where voodoo lady talks to her (no idea what she says),
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Eve starts seeing things (girl from the RING?)
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Didn’t Eve just meet this dude? I’m all for ‘true love’ but what the fuck ever.
I’m going to stop with my thoughts there cause if I go any further I’m going into spoiler territory. Here’s what I’ll say – this is a super enjoyable, creepy, bloody good time. The performances are really good here, especially Taylor Plecity as Eve and Perish Dignam as Sabian. When it comes to Sabian I can’t help but get a Keifer Sutherland / The Lost Boys vibe from him – it’s the hair for sure.
There’s a twist here that, If I’m being honest, I didn’t see coming and I really enjoyed. As I said in my rambling up top the one thing that really through me off was the audio of Voodoo Girl (Alexandra Bard). It’s really tough to make out what she’s saying cause it’s in a sort of ‘warbled’ tone… by design.
Even after finishing the film I didn’t quite ‘get’ the Ring Girl. Per the film’s IMDB it was ‘Ghoul of Eve’ which I didn’t figure out at all). That said, even though I wasn’t following along 100% it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the flick.
This one’s definitely a recommendable film and one that I’ll most likely enjoy more the second time I watch it. Special thanks to the team for giving me access to their work!
Pale Horse can be viewed on Amazon Prime, Vudu/Fandango, Tubi and on demand.
Have you seen Pale Horse (2024) – Leave us a comment with your thoughts!
