In order to rid our world of eldritch nasties, the Artemis Black Site was created; an underground military base that contains and deports all the evil demons and deities the universe has thrown at us. Enter Erebus (Kris Johnson) a particularly nasty mother fucker inhabiting a human form that has no great desire to be the latest prisoner of the Black Site and is going to make sure he doesn’t stay there long. Soon it falls on the shoulders of tough but inexperienced Danforth (Sophia Del Pizzo) to battle the machinations of this devious devil…but will she be up to the task?
Let’s talk about all that is oh so very right about Black Site, shall we? First of all this baby is a serious love letter to the film’s of John Carpenter. You get the down and dirty fights of flicks like Escape From New York or They Live, along with all of those heavy Lovecraftian influences that informed so much of Carpenter’s oeuvre such as Prince of Darkness or In the Mouth of Madness. Hell, there’s even a graphic explaining the set-up of the location that would be right at home in the aforementioned Escape!
Speaking of those fights; this flick has a surprising amount of hand to hand combat, and it is presented in a realistic and hard hitting manner…and their intensity only escalates as the flick plays on! And on the subject of Lovecraft, Writer/Director Tom Paton has created an immense amount of world building and mythology and created a universe where the paramilitary and arcane collide as ancient tentacled gods hang low in stormy skies. It’s an amazing thing to see, and the neon color drenched visuals and synth-heavy score add the final cherry on top of this sinister sundae!
As for special features on the Blu-ray, Epic Pictures and DREAD have included a nice selection of features including: audio commentary with Paton, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a selection of deleted scenes, and a DREAD presents trailer reel.
If you want to take a joltin’ journey to a universe of ancient gods and fists careening into faces, then Black Site will be your bag for sure, and it comes highly recommended from your’s cruelly to lovers of Carpenter and ol’ H.P.L. The horror biz is richer for having Tom Paton, and I can’t wait to see what he unleashes next!
