American Guinea Pig:
The Song Of Solomon
Written Review
Hi everyone and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, the
show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions.
Today’s review is going to be on 2017’s Horror Feature, American Guinea Pig: The Song Of Solomon, written and directed by U.S. indie filmmaker and founder of Unearthed Films, Stephen Biro. Thank you, Stephen for sharing your film with us.
Mary is having a rough month. Portrayed by the talented Jessica Cameron, she witnesses her father’s gruesome suicide, which propels powerful forces of evil to possess her. In the background, we understand that the world is on the verge of a pending apocalypse. The Catholic church realizes that the possessed girl holds the key to the world’s salvation. A high ranking priest who goes by The Ordinary, played by Andy Winton, finds capable men of the cloth and sends them one by one to deal with the demon inhabiting poor Mary. When that happens, that’s about the time the film ceases being a ‘by the numbers’ exorcism story. It seems that the demon who invaded Mary, has its own plan for the holy men, sent to banish him.
Having the plot deviate from what you would call a standard structure of a demonic possession story, gives room for more layers to enrich the story. Biro constructed a dark world around the main plot and wisely gave depth to characters, to make us, the viewers perceive them in a certain way and even try to place them in classic narrative format. It feels he did that to keep us on our toes and it does make for a more interesting experience. I can’t really give examples without spoiling.
The gory elements were frighteningly graphic and relentless, definitely not for sensitive eyes. The production value was fairly high. The cinematography was very well done, the practical FX, sound recording and foleys were professionally managed.
The performances were convincing, and I can only imagine how challenging it was to perform the roles in the way this project demanded. Jessica Cameron, and the rest of the cast are to be commended for that.
To sum up, this story focuses on Evil of Biblical proportions, and through that, questions universal moral codes in favour of the greater good, which has been the basis for many horror films made over the years. The Song of Solomon does this in a way that both makes us think and entertains us.
On the technical side, it is a professionally executed gore-filled spectacle, which I suspect hardcore gore fans will love. Having said that, It also invested a great deal of thought in its plot and characters in order to bring a new perspective to the possession sub-genre.
Please be aware, if you didn’t pick up on it from the poster, this one is NOT for the faint at heart, so viewer discretion is advised. Aside for that… Highly recommended!
The Song Of Solomon gets an 8/10 on the Look At Me I’m A Film Critic scale!
Go check it for yourselves. The film is available either on the Unearthed Films Vimeo on Demand channel and website, or on Amazon. Let us know what you think.
Until next time, keep supporting Indie Film. My name is Asaf Angel, I thank you for tuning in to MyIndie Review Vlog.
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