Lost in the Gloom: A Late Review of 'Impetigore'

I have to admit, I’ve avoided this movie for a long time because of its title. Not because I think it’s awful, but because it spattered the old occipital with visions of a low-budget splat-fast. Around the time I became aware of it, I had recently explored a good portion of Shudder’s extreme section. Given my dual sentiment towards this genre — a morbid curiosity at odds with a visceral distaste — I wasn’t in the mood for any more of that.

It’s a damn shame that the title of the US release didn’t retain the mystery of the original title (or at least, what Wikipedia tells me it translates to), “Woman of the Damned Land, ” because that does a much better job of hinting at what you’re getting yourself into.

The film begins in a tollbooth. We learn that the operator, Maya, has recently been followed by a strange man. Said strange man soon makes an appearance, and before being shot by police, reveals that he knows of Maya’s family and attacks her for reasons I won’t get into. This apparent connection to her family prompts Maya to dig into her family history, which leads her to learn of a family home in her village to which she may be entitled. She and her friend Dini head out of the city and into a small rural village to investigate the home, hoping to sell it eventually. That’s where the story starts, and for the most part, that is where I’ll leave it for the rest of the review, but there may be some light spoilers ahead (I’ll do my best.)

This is not a by-the-numbers slasher or gore flick. Yes, there is a fair amount of gore. Yes, it toys with slasher tropes throughout its runtime, but these are not the focus. They are, for the most part, punctuation on the most important sentences of an otherwise slow-burning, dark folk-horror tale: one of curses, revenge, and a village gone mad with grief. The violence often happens off-camera. The gore serves mainly to drive home the impact of the violence and stakes of the curse; it (almost) never feels like it’s supposed to be fun.

The cinematography and acting are top-notch. Tara Basro is particularly great as our lead, Maya, as is the main antagonist. There’s a lot of beautiful and unnerving stuff here, much of which I also won’t get into. This is partly because it’s critical to the plot and partly because I’m not cinematically literate enough to do it justice, but I’ll give it the old college try.

It’s littered with lots of loving visual homages, which it rarely calls attention to (with one prominent, intentional exception), but if you’re paying attention, you may catch notes of Dagon, The Shining, TCM, A Nightmare on Elm St., and more. Long interior shots emphasize the isolation within the house. The muted colors of the village and the surrounding forest present a cold and ominous ambiance, underscoring the feeling of solitude in the village. Day shots are dark and oppressive; night shots, lit primarily by lamp or candlelight, are isolating and… well, still very oppressive. The gloom in this place is practically a character.

If the gloom is a character, the characters in this place are something else entirely. They watch ominously and pass in shadows, invoking a strong sense of old-fashioned Lovecraftian “Fear of the Other.” Our main characters are not like them. We are not like them. There’s something wrong with this place and its inhabitants, and it may not be what we think it is.

This is a great watch that deserves a second look if you’re like me and put it off for three years (or is it four now?). It boasts a compelling atmosphere and a gripping story. While the narrative feels familiar at times, it manages to stand on its own, subverting some genre tropes and embracing others in a manner that just… works. It has a unique visual style which sits squarely in the center of the Venn diagram of Sinister, Martyrs, and TCM, and the almost 2-hour runtime never feels dull. This one is highly recommended and will probably be on my rewatch list for some time.