The Old Ways – Movie Review (4/5)

THE OLD WAYS is a new horror movie that premiered at the Sitges Film Festival 2020 in Spain – later it will be out in Netflix. The plot features a new take on exorcism that really works for me. Somehow, it just feels more down to earth and realistic – and creepy! Read our full The Old Ways movie review here!

THE OLD WAYS is a new horror movie about exorcism. With this movie, we get a story that feels more grounded and realistic to me. And that makes it all the more creepy. Also, I loved the way effects were used in this movie. Never too much or over the top. Again, something that helps the movie come across better for me.

We screened this movie for its world premiere at the iconic film festival Sitges in Spain.

Read our full The Old Ways movie review below.

A clean-cut exorcism story

While I love The Exorcist as much as the next horror fan, I really don’t need more subpar copies of that movie. And that’s exactly where The Old Ways manages to become a movie that wins me over; It goes in a completely different direction. We encounter a woman who seems completely fine. Also, she feels absolutely fine.

However, some people have the gift of spotting when a demon is trying to take over. The woman in The Old Ways is now trapped in the house of one such person. While the woman insists she’s fine and doesn’t even believe in these things, she just might begin to change her mind as the possession takes hold.

Also, I should mention that before we ever get that far, we see an awesome opening scene. This alone should make you sit back and expect good things from The Old Ways. And it will deliver!

A new generation of exorcism stories

We recently reviewed another exorcism movie that we also really enjoyed. It was called The Cleansing Hour (2020) it’s out on Shudder now. Watching The Old Ways so soon after, certainly makes it feel like we’re moving into a new era of exorcism stories.

You might like: Our review of the Shudder horror movie The Cleansing Hour here >

We’ve watched some amazing exorcism movies over the years but we’ve also watched way too many truly sloppy movies in this subgenre. Among the best is The Taking of Deborah Logan which is a highly underrated movie. If you haven’t watched it yet, then please do check it out.

You’ll have to wait a while for The Old Ways to come out since it just premiered at Sitges Film Festival 2020. However, when it does in 2021, be sure to watch it!

Watch The Old Ways on Netflix!

The Old Ways was directed by Christopher Alender who most recently worked as a director on the Muppets Now series Disney+ so I don’t think that’s very relevant. Also, he worked on music videos over the years.

He did, however, also work on the Crypt TV Kinderfänger episode, which is certainly horror. In fact, it was even released on Halloween back in 2017 and I feel like I should make sure to watch it now.

The screenplay was written by Marcos Gabriel who hasn’t written anything else I’ve seen. Most recently, he also worked on the Muppets Now series. However, his next project is writing the screenplay for Construct. A sci-fi movie based on the short film by Kevin Margo, who directs this feature film version.

While neither director Christopher Alender nor screenwriter Marcos Gabriel appear to have much experience with feature films or the horror genre, they managed to make a truly stellar horror movie about exorcism. Please, don’t stop now, guys. We’re ready for a lot more from you. Here’s hoping they both continue making horror movies in the future!

The Old Ways premiered at the Sitges International Film Festival in Spain on October 16, 2020. It will be released on Netflix in most countries on August 25, 2021.

Details

Director: Christopher Alender
Screenwriter: Marcos Gabriel
Stars: Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortés, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez, AJ Bowen