London Voodoo

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Feature: C

 

 

The idea of voodoo first surfaced in the 1932 Horror film White Zombie with Bela Lugosi, surfacing again here and there.  In the 1970s, it showed up very effectively in Ganja & Hess (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and even the great James Bond film Live & Let Die, both form the early 1970s.  Even TV had its solid voodoo moments on shows like Night Gallery and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.  London Voodoo (2004) is a somewhat sincere attempt to do a narrative feature involving the subject, but it gets too caught up in a certain sense of pretentiousness and just getting lost in itself.

 

Director Robert Pratten is actually trying to do something right and seems sincere about it, a point reinforced by a surprisingly good commentary track.  Just ultimately, this does not come together as “the good family” mistakenly moves into a house with a voodoo grave in the basement.  Pratten is on the right track, though, and we would like to see how he follows this one up.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is poor, shot on low definition video (analog NTSC or 480i digital, it does not matter) and is hard to sit through at times.  Blood looks phonier as a result.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is weak in richness, surrounds and even on the harsh side.  Extras include director’s commentary, a making of piece, “voodoo priest” interview, deleted scenes that would not have made any difference and a preview trailer.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo