PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The Hornet’s Disciple and The Scars She Left hasn’t been released yet but already is the subject of controversy. The film found itself in violation of IndieGoGo’s new guidelines AFTER its campaign was successfully funded. IndieGoGo withheld the funds it had collected from backer for 2 months, eventually refunding the backers money while refusing to give director Dustin Wayde Mills the information for his backers so he can collect funds himself and distribute the perks that have already been created, leaving the director out the money for the perks and on the hook with investors, undeservedly drawing the ire of backers and investors alike, all for something he had no control over. Recently I was given a chance to check out the film and see what the fuss is about. Read on for my thoughts.
The Hornets Disciple and the Scars She Left is the latest film from writer/director Dustin Wayde Mills (The Hornet’s Sting and the Hell It’s Caused 2014). The film stars the director himself, along with Roni Jonah (Volumes of Blood 2015), J. Ania Lupa (the upcoming Slaughterhouse Slumber Party), Zach Schildwachter, Erin R. Ryan (Slaughterhouse Slumber Party), BJ Colangelo, Dee Buonamica, Corella Waring (CarousHELL 2016), Jackie McKown (Her Name Was Torment 2014) and Reagan Root (A Black Heart in a White Hell 2015). The film is a meta sequel to The Hornet’s Sting and the Hell It’s Caused.
The Hornets Disciple and the Scars She Left’s synopsis:
Bondage. Captivity, Humiliation, Murder. In The Hornet’s Disciple and the Scars She Left, Rose is a model and photographer who lures desperate women to their doom with the promise of money, a stable lifestyle, and sometimes even sexual gratification. Finley is a down on her luck drifter who falls under Rose’s spell, and is subjected to a series of painful and humiliating ordeals culminating in a live streamed torture session you’ll have to see to believe.
So I’ve already mentioned that The Hornet’s Disciple and the Scars She Left is a meta sequel, but what exactly does that mean? I will tell you. In The Hornet’s Disciple and the Scars She Left, The Hornet’s Sting and the Hell It’s Caused is a movie, a movie that Disciple’s antagonist, Rose, is obsessed with. She models her persona on Rose, the antagonist from the first film. She quotes her dialogue and wears a mask just like hers. She models her actions after her. For fans of the first film, there are a lot of fun and twisted Easter eggs, some of which makes Jonah’s character come off as much more disturbed. You don’t need to see the original film to understand or enjoy this one, but it definitely takes things to a new level.
The film is anchored by the two lead performances. Usually in a film of this type, if you don’t sympathize with the hero and love to hate the villain, it’s just shock and gore for its own sake. Luckily, that’s not the case here. Newcomer J. Ania Lupa does a wonderful job as Finley, providing depth to a character that could have been a standard victim. She’s a good person who has had a hard life but hasn’t let it destroy her. We see her Finley’s initial awkwardness and hopelessness turn into confidence and hopefulness before being torn apart, reassembled something very different.
Roni Jonah gives an intense performance as Rose, going from calm, sweet and sexy to angry, disturbed and twisted at the drop of a hat, even going so far as to turn a masturbation scene disturbing. Rose is a complex character, a potent mix of anger, loneliness, violence and, in a mseed up way, love. Even before her obsession with Hornet’s Sting, she has a fucked up past. The film didn’t change her behavior, it just amplified it and gave it purpose. We are never told her ultimate motives, but are led to believe it is somewhere between a deep seated need and Rose’s motives in the first film. It is also hinted at that Rose may have some noble intentions, although her methods are more than a little out there.
The ending is pretty ambiguous, which I initially didn’t care for, but the more I think about it, the more it works, and well at that.
Final Thoughts
The Hornet’s Disciple and the Scars She Left works well as a companion piece to The Hornet’s Sting and the Hell It’s Caused, but also works well on its own. The film is sick, twisted, dark and disturbing and, in a messed up way, beautiful. The film is grounded by excellent and complex performances from its leads, making it more than your average torture film. I highly recommend you check out The Hornet’s Disciple and the Scars She Left when its released (given IndieGoGo’s unprofessional business move, who knows when that will be).
