Director – Philip J. Cook (Invader, Beyond the Rising Moon)
Starring – Mark Redfield (Dark and Stormy Night, Cold Harbor), Doug Brown, and Gage Sheridan (Twilight of the Dogs, First Encounter)
Release Date – 2001
Rating – 3.5/5
Blu Release – 4/5
I know my brain is wired differently than most genre fans. Most horror fans flock to films that are well polished, edited, and acted with top notch effects. They want the blood and gore but they want it done with unforgettable practical effects. Don’t get me wrong. I love that stuff too but I find myself drawn toward the films made on a shoestring budget with nylon stockings filled with tissues and dipped in red corn syrup as guts.
I live for these types of films and when I saw what could only be described as a CGI disaster that is Despiser, I knew I had to have it especially after I saw that my friends over at Visual Vengeance was releasing it. I went ahead and snagged a copy and quickly added it to my watch list.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows struggling artist and veteran Gordon (Redfield). He just lost his job and with his rent now behind, his wife has left him too. He then finds himself in a car accident and awakens in a purgatory like hellscape with a faction of other survivors are in an endless struggle against Despiser, his right hand Shadowman, and legion of twisted soul hellbent on serving him. **Spoiler Alert**
Many genre fans would see a film like Despiser and turn their nose up at it and I completely understand. However, movies like this one are the kind that excite me the most. They may have horrible effects and the acting may be amateurish but they usually have a lot of imagination and creativity. Despiser is one of those films. While it may look like a direct to video Christian film from the earl 2000s, it’s actually a solid fantasy horror flick with some of the worst CGI I’ve seen in a movie. This brought about a lot of unintentional laughs and I could see myself revisiting it sometime in the near future.
The acting in this one is not the worst I’ve seen but the cast is extremely stiff in their performance. The dialogue for most of the film comes out of their mouths almost as if they are drill instructors and afraid to show any emotion. Several members of the cast would go on to appear in other films and I would love to check those out to see how far they have grown from this film into the next.
The story for this one is absolutely wild and I love it for that. We have purgatory, high speed car chases, aliens, freedom fighters, romance, and more inside a film that has PBS quality CGI and looks like an early 00’s Christian film. The movie is a bit on the lengthy side but I didn’t want it to end. The pacing, campy dialogue, and editing is able to come together to almost stop time.
Finally, the film has a lot going on especially in regards to the computer generated effects. The film uses a lot of CGI and every shot of it is horrible. It’s unintentionally funny yet you can’t look away. Sure, I would have loved some great practical effects gore but this horrible CGI is still entertaining to say the least. Overall, Despiser is a must see. Fans of b-movies and unintentionally bad movies will want to check this one out. It’s the holy grail for bad movie fans. I absolutely loved it.
