After watching "Sculptress" I did something I am not doing often. I apologized to each one in my family that I invited to watch this movie with me. And I still don't know when will I forgive myself for wasting time. But it is sure that I won't ever trust the network that announced this movie as a psychological horror for intellectuals, making us believe it is something between Omen and Changeling.
The only thing that makes this movie unlike ordinary trash (in bad meaning of the word) is that is rather slow, with a good work of camera and some really beautiful scenes instead of repeating blood lakes and strangled necks. Though it is set in the world of art, one would expect more such scenes relied to sculptures, drawings, models; but these scenes have been done superficially (comparing to e.g. Hamilton's "Laura" set in similar environment). Photography, however, makes a proper mood in low lighted places like streets at night, fortune teller's office, adult bars. Unfortunately, nothing else in the movie develops this mood to include it into the plot. Also, the editing can be praised for several scenes, the best of them is overlapping Chris seducing Sarah and Mathew visiting peep show. But again all this well done job is wasted in empty and unbelievable script and pale directing.
**SPOILERS** A few examples. Sarah is an ordinary girl, scared by events that happened, and after death of her professor who was the only one to believe and help her she hears that all she can do is run away, or she will be either killed by one demon or obsessed by another. And what does this, so far not very brave girl do? After deciding to run away, and having her things packed, she sneaks into a flat where lives a serial killer obsessed by one of those demons! Why, if not to give him (and a director) time to catch her...
Sarah, a girl old enough to go to university on another continent, suddenly discovers her sexuality (!) and she is so shocked that she runs to a church for a confession. And, as if he knew not only what she is going to do, but which church and room for confession she will chose, our demon hero sits there after killing the real priest, and the blood from the corpse is slowly flowing down the walls. If Sarah was in early puberty, it could be interpreted as a symbol of her becoming a woman ("Valerie and her Week of Wonders" or "Carrie") and all the stressful things she has to experience ("Company of Wolves")... but in this case it is only a deja vu of some a bit less bad horrors. Blood is just a blood of a person killed for no reason and no importance for a plot.
Lunatic (ex)priest and prostitutes or peep show stars remind us of "Crimes of Passion", but don't hope for anything similar. Perkins and Turner could maybe make "Sculptress" watchable, but only if they made an Oscar nomination job. In this real version of "Sculptress" we don't see any actor worth mentioning at all.
And if you watch this movie despite my comment, and feel disappointed afterwards, I won't apologize you. I have warned you.
