HALLOWEEN HANGOVER: APOSTLE (2018) ** ½

Dan Stevens sets out to rescue his sister from a religious cult who live on a remote island in the early days of the 20^th century.  A chance (and potentially deadly) run-in with the leader Malcolm (Michael Sheen) sort of grants him an immunity to go around the island unsupervised.  His rescue mission is eventually compromised when one of Malcolm’s lieutenants (Mark Lewis Jones) stages an uprising.

Apostle comes to us from Gareth Evans, the director of The Raid.  I wish I could say it does for horror movies what The Raid did for Kung Fu action, but that is sadly not the case.  It has his fingerprints all over it and as a fan of Evans’ work, I can honestly say I’m glad I saw it. 

Many have compared it to The Wicker Man.  That’s certainly an apt description, but Apostle has its own unique energy.  It’s closer in spirit to Evans’ short from V/H/S/2 as they’re both about religious cults.  In the end, he veers into some serious Mark of the Devil territory as people are hoisted upon a series of torture devices and ground up into gory, gruesome gristle.  This justifies some of the longwinded build-up, although for such a slow burn, the movie really needed a little more sizzle in its finale.

Like most of Evans’ work, Apostle moves at a deliberate pace.  This is one of the rare times where his approach is a little too deliberate for its own good because you really start to feel the length.  The middle section particularly dawdles.  Once you learn the secret of the cult and the island itself, it works up to a certain point, but stops just short of being satisfying.  We do get at least one scene where he shows his Raid roots with Stevens showcasing a smidgeon of Kung Fu flair.

Stevens is excellent.  If anyone of lesser talent was in the lead, the movie would’ve gone off the rails much sooner.  Lucy (Bohemian Rhapsody) Boynton lends fine support as Malcolm’s skeptical daughter.  Sheen is a lot of fun too.  If you saw his scenery chewing performance in Tron:  Legacy, you know a cult leader loony is well within his wheelhouse.  All three leads do a great job, but in the end, it’s not quite enough to push this one into the win column.