I saw The Luring

As Edgar Allan Poe so wisely taught us, the most terrifying aspects of life revolve around guilt and revenge. A fine, modern showcase of this is director/writer Christopher Wells' The Luring (derived, in thematic part, from his eerie short, "Cynthia"). 

That's not to say that Wells' movie is devoid of otherworldly links, but its ghostly margins exist only to erode the lead's respectable persona, as the story grazes the intense, mental complexities of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man and The Shining. 

Rick (The Dead Hate the Living!) Irwin plays Garrett Redford, a fellow who for some odd cause can't remember a portion of his childhood; and to quench his curiosity, returns to his parents' Vermont, summer home, where he lost it. He's inspired to do so by an enigmatic woman named Jennifer (Molly Fahey), who claims she remembers him and might be able to reinstall the missing span. 

With this prompt, Garrett invites his cheerful girlfriend, Claire (Michaela Sprague), along for the sojourn. The promising venture seems idyllic at first (a placid means to strengthen their relationship, which in turn, subtly connects to a Rockwellian painting that Garrett admires in the film, rendered by Wells' father, Roderick), but a spree of strange goings-on begins to impact the couple. 

Jennifer is an important catalyst in this regard, surfacing when Claire isn't looking and generally speaking in poetic riddles, using a combination of seduction and sarcasm to pry Garrett's brain. She's comparable to a Gothic Harley Quinn, dangerous yet magnetic. It doesn't take long for Garrett to fantasize about her and to the point that Claire becomes more of a nuisance than someone endeared.

To stoke Garrett's recollection further, an erudite stranger (Daniel Martin Berkey) materializes, behaving much like Sam Elliott's narrator in The Big Lebowski, though with an edge reminiscent of The Shining's Overlook spirits. In other words, he's amiable on the surface, but if one scrutinizes his words, they permeate a potent plan. 

Garrett's peculiar encounters usher a major flashback and the most disturbing portion of the movie, particularly since it includes children, with Henry Gagliardi as young Garrett, Ava Riley Miles as young Jennifer and Matan Barr as Tom, a gentle, "autistic" boy, who's crucial to the unspooling lament.  

In ambiance and flow, The Luring presents a perturbing progression akin to Psycho II, How Awful About Allan, When Michael Calls, Dream House, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Kill, Baby ... Kill! and the classic short, "The Red Balloon". On this basis, The Luring reveals its chills like a striptease, where the truth becomes clearer once the mystifying layers fall away. (Al Creedon's weird, ambient score and Amanda McGrady's evocative photography reinforce the surreal succession.) 

There are self-proclaimed "experts" who recommend leaving the past behind: a foolish, if not impossible exercise. The Luring tackles the past's formidability with a frankness that can't be dismissed. This makes Wells' movie essential to those lured to an underbelly that defines who we are and who we fear we may become. 

The Luring is available for purchase and rental at Amazon Prime.