• Straight to Video
• Director: Channing Lowe
• Written by: Ron Hammond, Channing Lowe
• Running Time: 92 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: UNRATED
• Cast: Aaron W. Peterson, Rebecca Larsen, John Woodhouse, Andrew D. Jensen, Rusty Bringhurst, Michael Carrasco, Michael Montgomery, Ron Hammond, Todd Hansen, Jeff Poulsen, Steve Darling, Amanda Hadfield Beck, Megan Hadfield, Matthew Lisonbee, Dan Robinson, Laura Bedore, Scott Fisher, Stacey Lowe, Matt keddington, Jeremy Jensen, Andrea Close, Johnathon Mier

For those who are not familiar with the real-life phenomenon known as “Old Hag”, let me quote Steven Wagner’s article at http://paranormal.about.com;

Victims of "Old Hag Syndrome" awake to find that they cannot move, even though they can see, hear, feel and smell. There is sometimes the feeling of a great weight on the chest and the sense that there is a sinister or evil presence in the room. The name of the phenomenon comes from the superstitious belief that a witch - or an old hag - sits or "rides" the chest of the victims, rendering them immobile. Although that explanation isn't taken very seriously nowadays, the perplexing and often very frightening nature of the phenomenon leads many people to believe that there are supernatural forces at work - ghosts or demons. The experience is frightening because the victims, although paralyzed, seem to have full use of their senses. In fact, it is often accompanied by strange smells, the sound of approaching footsteps, apparitions of weird shadows or glowing eyes, and the oppressive weight on the chest, making breathing difficult if not impossible. All of the body's senses are telling the victims that something real and unusual is happening to them.

Considering the fact that I have had a deep interest in just about everything paranormal, I was immediately drawn to Channing Lowe’s film after reading about it on the FearZone website. In my youth, I remember a friend telling me of a terrifying experience he had while laying in bed, similar to the Old Hag, of hearing strange growling sounds around him, of being unable to move and feeling as though he was being picked up and spun. I also remember how much it frightened me. Sadly, as I soon discovered after pushing play on my DVD unit, Channing Lowe clearly had no interest in making a film about the phenomenon known as “Old Hag”, rather, it’s merely a device, designed as a pivot for a rather uneventful hack and slash piece. Granted, there are instances in which the characters in his film experience something akin to “Old Hag”, Lowe seems unwilling to explore fully the phenomenon’s potential to scare. Instead, he seems compelled to pull back at the very moment he should be diving in. Rather than texture the scenes to take advantage of each frightening nuance of what it might feel like to have an actual face to face encounter with a demonic force known as Old Hag, he elects to pull the audience away, dropping them off in another room where not a lot is typically happening. In a sense, giving the proverbial finger to the fans. Eventually, as the end slowly approaches, Lowe undermines his own film by pulling back completely, allowing for the introduction of the old bait and switch ruse – one that gives the film a sloppily ludicrous and gimmicky feel.

Strange things befall a group of nightshirt workers at a University storage facility after the body of a deceased serial killer (Michael Montgomery) is unloaded into one of their docks, awaiting a later transfer. Even though the psychopath - known in the headlines as Artimus - strangled to death seven people before being gunned down, he’s since turned into a bit of a local celebrity, something easily gauged by the level of excitement of the folks working in the warehouse. For one pair of employees, Jenny (Rebecca Larsen) and Robert (Andrew D. Jensen), his arrival offers them the perfect opportunity to make some quick cash. Considering the heightened interest the media has in this Artimus cat, they are quite certain that a tabloid would be willing to pony up serious G’s for some candid photographs of the pickled killer. Sadly for them, they have to contend with Grover (John Woodhouse), the night manager, whose beliefs in the supernatural and, well, the general rules and practices of the facility, leads him to forbid any picture snapping. Yeah, Grover is one of those paranormal phenomena buffs who worries that any displaying of Artimus might lead to some seriously bad karma. Jenny’s not a believer, however, and before long she’s sneaking into Artimus’ room, not once, not twice, but three damn times. And, in keeping with Grover’s hunch, bad shit starts a happenin’.

It begins almost immediately when Jenny’s hippy-like co-worker Eric (Rusty Bringhurst), forever sneaking sips of Bourbon from his barely hidden flask, encounters something that terrifies him as he lays sleeping it off in an empty room. Unable to move or scream, he observes wide-eyed as a strange ghostly apparition moves towards him and proceeds to cut off his oxygen supply. Thankfully a noise interrupts the event and the vaporous wraith swiftly high-tails it outta the room. This is but the first of a trio of encounters Eric has with the being – someone he, and a few others in the facility, suspects might be the ghost of Artimus. Grover chalks Eric’s curious encounters with the unknown up to sleep paralysis; although he himself begins to deduce that something much more ominous might be at work in their warehouse. This is ultimately confirmed when Eric turns up dead in one of the rooms a few nights later. He’s only the first! Before long, the Old Hag is popping up around every corner of the warehouse and as more and more people fall victim to the nasty apparition, Jenny and Grover are forced to confront the reality of the paranormal events going on around them. Thankfully, there’s a dim-witted but affable warehouse security guard named Beau (Aaron Peterson) hot on the case. Well, he’s not so much hot on the case as he is attempting to use the deaths as a springboard to his becoming a cop... or is he? Interestingly, as Grover stumbles upon some newspaper clippings about Artimus in Beau’s locker, things suddenly take a bizarre turn. Ah, yes, the old bait and switch routine I mentioned.

Despite my overall disliking of this movie, I have to admit that Aaron Peterson, as Beau, is absolutely amazing – and remains, at least to me, one of the few bright spots of the movie. For a first time actor, this guy does a wicked job of painting a very duplicitous, chilling character; one that feigns idiocy while simultaneously plotting to break a rather sinister world record. Sadly, in the final moments of the film, his carefully crafted character is reduced to a punch line, muttering, “I couldn’t think of anything,” as he lay dying of a bullet wound. Contrasting his great performance is David Candland, playing an inspector who looks like an oven-baked Bruce Campbell and delivers dialogue like a tweaking Owen Wilson. His performance plays out like a caricature, and whenever he appears on screen doing his “Drillbit Taylor” riff, you’d swear you’re watching a completely different film. His brand of acting invokes comedy, and considering how dark this film is, it absolutely doesn’t work. Not even a little bit. The awkward final scene, involving both Candland and Peterson engaging each other an underlit gunfight, illuminates the differences. If anything points out how problematic this film, it's that final scene. Trust me.

"Old Hag" marks Channing Lowe's first time in a director's chair, and for it's worth, he at least proves that he knows how to make a movie. As a writer, though, the story he pens tends to lumber along at a very slow burn pace -- slogging through numerous inconsequential sequences where people do a whole lot of nothing, such as it might be in an actual warehouse setting. I suspect that Lowe and partner Ron Hammond wrote much of "Old Hag" while slaving away in a similar warehouse setting. Cinematically, though, such attempts at neo-realism usually result in the kiss of death for horror films. At least toss a naked girl in there to break it up or maybe even some workplace infighting. Anything to keep it exciting. Granted, with a creepy piano score and Lowe's camera tracking across an endless expanse of seemingly empty darkened warehouse, the film does manage to achieve a level of atmospheric creepiness, if only briefly. That's something, I guess.

Hopefully someday a film will be made that treats the phenomenon, which is rather frightening, as its central focus, rather than just a side-order. This film, sadly, has other things on its mind.