A Tale Of Many Holes – ‘TERROR FIRMA’ (2023) – Blu-ray Review

Holes. There’s lots of them in the first feature from Brian Yuzna & John Penney’s Dark Arts Entertainment. Fortunately for newly minted writer/director Jake MacPherson, Terror Firma (not to be confused with the Tromatic masterpiece Terror Firmer) has a big hole in a garden plot, but not in the actual plot. More on this later…

Synopsis

“After a mysterious batch of otherworldly seeds arrive at their home, threatening to change the course of existence, Lola, a struggling artist, is forced to fight through it with her brother, Louis, and defend herself from his unbalanced roommate, Cage—all the while navigating a surrel landscape of internal, and external, danger.”

Check out the trailer!

Opening with a rather ominous government lockdown and shelter in place order (which is never fully explained), accompanied by an equally ominous soundtrack (think Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness), we’re introduced to Lola (the super cute Faye Tamasa; All Souls), a troubled artist, running from a dark past, hoping to crash at her brother, Louis’ (Burt Thakur) place, and peacefully wait out whatever crisis is going on. A food delivery, containing a strange packet of seeds, and an introduction to Cage (Robert Brettenaugh; Shitshow), Louis’ roommate, who is also strange, sets the stage for a nightmare dreamscape of hallucinatory fantasy, inter-dimensional travel, and strange holes…in the sky, in the ground, in the fabric of space…

The hole most central to the story here, is in the small garden where Lola plants the seeds. Appearing in said hole, a short time later, is a sludge like goo, that apparently smells delicious. Against what one could safely assume is their better judgement, the trio take celebratory shots of the sludge, with varying effects on each: Lola seems cooly buzzed, Louis seems instantly addicted, while Cage seems amped up on ecstasy and ready to party (he actually, and I can’t believe I’m saying this for the first time, given the films I’ve seen, has intercourse with a hole in the dirt…).

Much like Carolanne in Poltergeist, Louis soon disappears…somewhere. Communicating with him through the hole, Lola attempts to protect herself from the increasingly cult-like and rapey Cage, while enlisting the help of her friend Teddy (Max Carpenter; Scars) to rescue her brother and put a stop to the descent into madness.

Terror Firma is a very ambitious project for a first-time director. MacPherson handles this with aplomb, never letting a heavy script weigh down the proceedings to a plod, while maintaining a palpable sense of dread throughout. With a story that, at it’s core, was destined to be effects laden, Terror Firma manages to avoid looking cheap and cheesy, although the price tag of the visuals are apparent. Tamasa, Thakur, and especially Brettenaugh, really display some acting chops above and beyond their pay grade, and the indie horror mantra of “small cast, one or two sets” really works well within the story.

There are few unanswered questions, like: why the lockdown? Where did the seeds come from?? And to what end?? But these are overshadowed by the top-notch performances, original script ideas, and the positive message of the ending, rare for a film where you can sense from the beginning that there’s not going to be a happy ending. All in all, a really well crafted, entertaining film that reaches fairly high, but doesn’t overreach into “failed elevated horror” territory.

The disc proper, from Dark Arts and MVD Visual, is a pretty standard package, with director’s commentary, an extended cut of the film, photo gallery and a trailer. Bare bones stuff, but that can be expected. Playback had no issues, with a sharp picture and even sound.

An interesting combination of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Lovecraft’s Colour Out Of Space, Terror Firma is a testament of what you can do with an imaginative script, a talented cast, and just enough cash to pull the required effects off. Far from perfect, this tale of goo, holes, weird flowers, pervy roommates, spheres and things buried is a compelling watch, and an excellent first feature for both MacPherson’s resume and Dark Arts Entertainment.

For the record: I would NEVER do shots of random sludge, not matter how good it smelled.

Dark Arts Entertainment/MVD Visuals’ Blu-ray of Terror Firma is available now from fine retailers.