Further doubt is cast when we find out that he was taking some sort of medication that he has run out of. Our lead, who keeps himself pretty isolated, is the only one who sees and hears these things leaving us to question whether or not they actually exist. The creepy moments are mostly made up of strange whispers or noises followed by something just out of focus moving in the background. Watching these two play-off of each other is quite a lot of fun even before the horror creeps into the picture. Smartly, one character handles the heavier moments while the other keeps us entertained by being a bit more of a loose cannon. Even as we wind our way through this feature, we only ever encounter two characters (three if you count the cat) so the weight rests firmly upon their shoulders. Thanks to an opening with minimal dialogue and only one person on screen, it is made clear right away that this is going to be a performance based film.
MOVIE THE ALCHEMIST COOKBOOK REVIEW CRACK
Suffering from delusions of fortune, a young hermit hides out in the forest hoping to crack an ancient mystery, but pays a price for his mania. To best represent the story, I will turn to IMDB for the plot summary: “I’m counting every time I make a mark on this tree.” “And yet they couldn’t make a sequel to Action Jackson?!?” “Sometimes you’re the mortar, and sometimes you’re the pestle,” said no one who’s ever had sex.Today I will be reviewing the suspense/horror feature THE ALCHEMIST COOKBOOK by writer/director Joel Potrykus.
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The Illuminati would be more popular if it invested in dust jackets. “I hope no one ever finds out what I did to get this Smurf milk…” “I don’t know what those Native Americans were complaining about these pox-ridden blankets are damn comfy.” Ah, the ol’ peanut butter and possum trick…The backwoods sure are a lonely place. Thus, for all its frustrating qualities, The Alchemist Cookbook remains a refreshing and noteworthy milestone in the history of black horror cinema. You could’ve easily swapped a white actor into the role of Sean (he even listens to an eclectic mix of hip-hop, rock and classical music), and while Cortez uses “urban slang” and drops a number of N-bombs, those details - and his race - aren’t integral to the story they’re more like personality quirks. But, like Night of the Living Dead back in the late ’60s, the casting here is color blind. Part of its originality is its all-black cast - not something one expects in a genre where black people traditionally die by the halfway point of the film. Hickson’s rough-hewn performance only adds to the gritty, atonal realism of the film. It’s best enjoyed (granted, that’s a generous term) as an immersive experience, kind of like an artsy and/or drug-induced riff on The Blair Witch Project. A minute of nothing but open-mouth Doritos chewing? Sign me up!īut it’s also got a spark of originality and unpredictability that’s rare in modern cinema. It feels like it’s shot via hidden camera in some backwoods hermit’s residence, practically every scene hanging on long enough to become awkward and cringe-worthy. It’s one of those “is it real or is he hallucinating” movies that can prove frustrating to some, and there’s not a ton of action, gore, scares or well, anything substantive.
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The Alchemist Cookbook certainly isn’t for everyone, even diehard horror fans. The strange, guttural sounds he hears in the woods become more frequent, and his disappointment at his plan’s failure leads him to delve deeper into his book to conjure the demon he believes is nearby. When Cortez forgets medication for his cousin’s unnamed illness, however, Sean begins to lose his already tenuous grasp on sanity. The only other human in the film is Sean’s cousin Cortez (Amari Cheatom), who brings him food and supplies, despite doubting his ability to succeed in his get-rich-quick (or not so quick) scheme. Terminally “indie” in its approach, it strives for realism in portraying the mundane events of the everyday life of main character Sean (Ty Hickson), a gawky, reclusive young man who moves to a trailer in the middle of the woods, where, using a mysterious book, he conducts chemistry - or rather, alchemy - experiments in an attempt to get rich by manufacturing gold.
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Its uniqueness makes the film worthwhile viewing, but it’s a trying experience that demands patience and a high tolerance for watching protracted scenes of a disheveled man eating and drinking sloppily. It stands out from the bulk of today’s genre movies due to its unconventional style - essentially a one-man show, with a slow pace, ambiguous content, minimal dialogue and even more minimal plot - but when you factor in the lead being African American, it’s pretty much one of a kind. The Alchemist Cookbook is a challenging film that defies categorization it’s part horror, part drama, part comedy and all quirky.