Demons, angels, death, the afterlife…they’re subjects ripe for picking fascinating stories. So when I heard about Australian writer/director Colm O’Murchu’s Tabernacle 101, I was intrigued. Although, before watching, I thought that this might be a religious film with a message about salvation hidden between monsters, and it made me a little trepidacious of the viewing experience set before me. Instead, it’s a low-budget cross between Re-Animator, True Blood, and maybe even a touch of Charmed. It seems like something you would run into on the SYFY channel at either 3 pm or 3 am, but I mean that in the best way possible.
“…he must fight against the demons or else they might destroy the world through a computer virus…”
Frank Bennetti (David Hov) is like a lot of atheists you’ll meet out there, annoyingly vocal about it. So vocal that he has created a YouTube vlog about debunking religious and paranormal claims. Bennetti (which by the way this name absolutely sounds like the last name of a TV detective which I greatly appreciate) shares the show’s duties with his friend Clint (Leon Kawalski) and occasionally his nephew, Daniel (Rees Laird). At the beginning of the film, Frank and Daniel are on a camping trip. There are several noises throughout the night which Frank attributes to koalas or kangaroos (in case we didn’t know already that the film was Australian), until finally, a shadowy figure emerges through the tent, that Daniel categorically proclaims is a ghost, but Frank believes it to be the work of a prankster.
"…several noises throughout the night which Frank attributes to koalas or kangaroos"
