A Grim Tale: The Cult of Balor (Episode 1)
2024 · 13m · Australia
Directed by Jake Frazer
Genres: coming-of-age, fantasy, horror
Mila, a teenage novice in the dark arts, races a rare lunar eclipse to stop the Cult of Balor's teen vampires from completing a ritual that would open a Hellmouth.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's competent YA-adjacent horror that plays the supernatural stakes entirely straight—which is fine, but there's nothing here that makes me uncomfortable or genuinely confused about what it's trying to be, and that's what I'm looking for.
The mythic apparatus is assembled with clarity and respect for its lineage (Buffy's playbook, folkloric horror), though the execution feels more workmanlike than formally distinctive—serviceable craft in service of a familiar architecture.
The lunar eclipse countdown creates real narrative momentum on a tight budget, and there's a specific choice in how the sound design isolates Mila's breathing during the ritual sequence that transforms a straightforward spell-race into something genuinely claustrophobic.
Festivals
- Spooktacular Film Fest for Horror & Sci-Fi, Official Selection