By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
What initially drew me to the creepy new movie
?Skin Walker? was Udo Kier who was astounding in the recently released On-Demand movie ?The Painted Bird.?
I was even more intrigued by Amber Anderson (?White Lie?) who also stars in ?Skin Walker? as a young woman trying to overcome her tragic past.
?Skin Walker? marks the directorial debut of newcomer Christian Neuman, who also wrote the film and whose work includes mostly short films like ?Asta? and ?A Time for New Heroes.?
While ?Skin Walker? starts with a lot of promise, it doesn?t build on its suspense.
Regine (Anderson) in an attractive woman who works hard at a cookie cutter factory job by day and often plays even harder at the local nightclub with her boyfriend.
One evening when Regine comes home from work, she is greeted at her apartment by a stranger named Robert (Jefferson Hall, ?Halloween? 2018). Robert startles Regine with news that he?s the father of her younger brother Isaac (Luc Schiltz, TV?s ?Unit 42?). Isaac died during birth and Regine saw the horrific event take place. That?s one of the many things that has haunted her over the years.
Still, Robert swears to Regine that not only is Isaac alive, but he also killed her grandmother (Marja-Leena Junker, ?Barrage?). Robert insists Regine come home with him and he can prove everything to her.
Naturally, she?s angry and wants this guy to get out of her apartment. However, when Robert shows Regine an old picture of him and her family together it takes her down memory lane and she begins to believe some of what he?s saying. Before heading home, Regine stops to see her mother, Rose (Sophie Mousel, upcoming ?April Skies?) who has been placed in a mental institution.
When Regine arrives at her palatial estate, she?s greeted by her father Claus (Kier) but not with loving and open arms. Clearly, there is some history between them. Is it possible that Robert and Claus have some dark secrets that will be revealed?
There is a lot to unpack in ?Skin Walker.?
Regine has been trying to block many of her bad childhood memories, but they still get in her way and we see through flashbacks why they have been haunting her and the entire family.
While these flashbacks should be among the strongest moments in the film, the muddled and incoherent fashion which they are presented also detract from ?Skin Walker? and when the movie?s big reveal rolls around, it?s another big letdown.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays now at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 1530 AM and 93.1 FM.
Look At This Trailer For
"SKIN WALKER"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics? Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC), The Alliance Of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
