Jennifer Corolla (Allison Hawkstone) and her friends travel back to their hometown for a weekend of celebration. When they arrive, truths will surface and new demons will come to haunt them in a way that they could have never expected. The Wraith Within tells the tumultuous story of these friends as they deal with a vindictive and dangerous entity that is out for blood. They must figure out why before it’s too late.
There’s no emotion present in The Wraith Within–none whatsoever. From the opening moments of the film the cast is completely incapable of bringing emotion to life, of conveying anything that might allow them to connect with viewers–and The Wraith Within struggles to reach its audience as a result. Not a single character truly appeals to viewers, not a single person creates a connection that allows for any accessibility. As the film drives forward viewers find themselves falling further and further away from it, caring less and less what was occurring. I found myself counting down the minutes to the end of the film, anticipating the film coming to a conclusion rather than enjoying the things playing out in front of me. There are a series of things that cause this to happen–but the acting and the inability of this cast to create any emotional connection is the the most prominent reason for The Wraith Within’s downfall in this regard.
The story itself is entirely too convoluted, including aspects of these characters’ stories that serve no purpose, that only steal from the primary storyline. What I believe Writer Carlos A. Samudio and Director Aaron Strey wanted to was to develop each of the characters in a way that allowed viewers to appreciate them, to understand them, to look past whatever shortcomings may arise and entertain viewers regardless. However, with those aforementioned issues that plague The Wraith Within from beginning to end, the story, too, fails to entertain. There are far too many things going on that serve no purpose, that fail to fall in line with what Strey and Samudio are attempting to create–and that causes the story as a whole to crumble.
This following statement seems a bit contradictory–but it’s true nonetheless. The writing isn’t horrible. It’s cliche like most of the other classic horror films that have taken the world by storm–but it does fail to really entertain beyond anything that viewers have seen before. Let’s clarify: the story is convoluted, and it’s far too chaotic for it to reach viewers–but the fact of the matter is that many of the classic horror films employ similar devices (albeit in a much more linear and organized fashion). Some of the devices used throughout the course of The Wraith Within reminds of horror films of the past, and somewhere in this film is something that horror fans will be able to appreciate. With that being said, I’m not sure that leisurely horror fans will find this appealing, but it exists for someone.
I clearly have my issues with The Wraith Within, but there’s one thing that disappointed more than anything else: the dialogue. The dialogue is what challenged me the most; it was the thing that I had to constantly question and attempt to understand. There are literally dozens of lines that serve no purpose other than to bamboozle viewers and force them to question the validity of what is being said and done. With all of the negatives that exist throughout The Wraith Within, the dialogue only exacerbates them, making them more challenging to appreciate and less likely to reach viewers along the way.
Horror exists in a pocket of cinema that allows it to be imperfect (even have clear issues) and still find success. Oftentimes these discrepancies are what appeal to viewers, what allow them to appreciate the film–but The Wraith Within takes these things too far, never appealing to the average viewer along the way. There are bits and pieces of the film that will appeal to hardcore horror fans, but even those are few and far between–making The Wraith Within a challenge from beginning to end.
Directed by Aaron Strey.
Written by Carlos A. Samudio.
Starring Allison Hawkstone, Shane Christopher, Brian Hodges, Ally Kathryn, Michael Madsen, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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