Horror Movie Review: Ekimmu: The Dead Lust (2017)

Ekimmu: The Dead Lust is a vampire/demonic horror movie. Written and directed by Andy Koontz and starring Jeff Argubright, Carissa Becker and Jeremy Dimachina.

Puzzled about the ‘Ekimmu’ name? Well, according to the Encyclopaedia of Vampire Mythology it is said that an Ekimmu (or Ekimmou) is:

“bitter and angry, doomed to stalk the earth, unable to find peace, desperately wanting to live again. Ghostlike in appearance, it attacks humans relentlessly until they are dead.”

While this is an intriguing villain, it never fully translates onto the screen and what we end up with is a mish-mash of ideas with most failing to spark.

Set in the small town of Briar Creek, a young couple find a woman lying by the roadside. They stop to help her and bring her back to her home. To the surprise of no-one this woman is not who she seems. Her body is home to evil that is waiting and plotting to extract revenge on those who have sinned.

That description isn’t even half of what the movie tries to tell in its story but keeping up with the jarring jumps, seemingly unrelated scenes and confused narrative is no easy task. Pay attention, there will be homework at the end of Ekimmu: The Dead Lust.

The messy story does begin to straighten out as we reach the conclusion but getting to that stage is no easy task. It’s an amateurish horror film with plenty of horrendous acting and super-cheap looking visuals. Andy Koontz has some style, that much can be seen by the flashes of a writhing and super-sexualised demonic woman that pops up on occasion. You can’t help but wonder with a bit more cash and a better story, if we could get something really interesting from the man.

While it’s not boring, it has not got enough of a hook to keep anyone really invested. The gaps in the narrative ensure that you’re constantly being taken out of the moment. With no scares or impressive gore, there really isn’t anything to recommend here. Even if it’s not a terrible movie.