Kurt Cobain lookalike Garrett Hnatiuk and veteran actress Jane Moffat provide the film with its version of killers from The Devils Rejects or I Drink Your Blood I Eat Your Skin, and have some lovely, if not incestuous, moments. Their scenes flirt constantly with outright parody, recalling the gleeful excesses of the practical gore with James Whale’s family send-up The Old Dark House as a subversive blueprint.
Houston Bone’s direction similarly walks a fine line between horror and comedy. Much of the violence is so outrageous as to provoke excess, unlike the serious carnage in the Terrifier franchise. This is straight (No pun intended) Seventies and the eighties cult film bucket gore on the level of Herschell Gordon Lewis, exaggerated performances with moments of almost comic-book hysteria that recall the best exploitation tradition
Unfortunately, the screenplay occasionally undermines its own strengths. Rather than allowing suspense to develop, the opening sequence naturally leaves little mystery about where events are heading, reducing the gradual paranoia. Once Sara accepts Troy’s invitation to the isolated farmhouse, seasoned horror viewers will predict most major developments well before they occur. However, new or occasional viewers to the genre would not be so much of a gatekeeper and sit back and enjoy the work. Horror is built on going someplace no one in their right mind would go.
“Her physical performance deserves enormous praise…”
The original and still best Night of the Living Dead is seen on television as Sara and Carol watch it in their home in a tender moment. Subtly in the work itself, with having the hero Carol cast as a person of colour who comes to rescue Sara from the evil farmhouse.
The film embraces excess unapologetically, not a still camera in empty space and plot with blowing trees in sight. Blood flies. Bodies contort. Villains chew scenery with infectious enthusiasm. The climactic appearance of the devil child, which some will find hilariously camp while others may dismiss it as unintentionally silly
One particularly touching surprise arrives during the end credits. Rather than simply rolling names, Bone includes heartfelt acknowledgments to filmmakers whose work clearly shaped his imagination. The afro mentioned Larry Cohen for Its Alive series, along with James Whale, Alfred Hitchcock, Ira Levin, George Romero, and many others, are in the end credits. Son of Sara Volume One stands slightly to the side upon the shoulders of these genre giants.
"…delivers a film that is equal parts Satanic horror, camp melodrama, body horror, and pitch-black comedy."
