CRUEL WILL (2014)

Tragedy strikes a young married couple, Paul (Arron Kinser) and Lily (Marissa Pistone), when the latter's father Adrian (Doug Jones) dies suddenly. Things start going south when Lily breaks down at her father's funeral and snarls at Paul, “You kept me away from him!” After the lid to the father's urn disappears, Paul starts to experience weird phenomena around the house that no one else can see. Has he lost his sanity, or is Adrian's malevolent spirit to blame? (He and Paul couldn't stand each other.)

Writer/director Arthur Romeo created a cast of wholly unlikable characters. Paul is a whiny wimp, his friend Blake (Read MacGuirtose) is a sexist pig, Lily is a ball-busting pain in the ass, and her aunt Eloise (Barbara Goodson) is a strident battleaxe who refers to Paul as “that idiot.” Then there's Adrian, the dead father, who we learn through flashbacks was a heavy boozer and routinely used his daughter as a punching bag. Also on hand is Paul's psychiatrist, Dr. Frances (Harry Lennix), whose “professional” advice is as useless as an analog TV.

While we're on the subject of flashbacks: the film is rife with them. They're mostly quick cuts that really grate on the nerves. All right, so Adrian was an abusive drunk; we get it already! Geez.

There's not a decent performance in this film, but I must single out Arron Kinser. As Paul loses his grip on reality, Kinser's portrayal crosses the line into self-parody. His eyes bulge, his face twitches, he grabs at himself, he gasps for breath, and he bellows at the top of his lungs. Not since “Maniac” (1934) has on-screen psychosis been portrayed with such braying histrionics. The scene in which Paul finally loses his shit is a true extravaganza of over-emoting. That must be what the director wanted, though, because other characters also devolve into scenery-chewing. Aunt Eloise's convulsive eulogy for her brother Adrian is but one example.

Item: Ten years earlier, Lily's mother disappeared. Police were never able to solve the mystery, though the answer is obvious from the moment her vanishing is established.

Item: For some odd reason, Aunt Eloise is obsessed with Adrian's ashes.

Item: Though it coincides with Paul's descent into madness, the disappearance of the urn's cover is never explained.