I have a background in journalism, but also in geosciences. So when I see a horror movie that deals with Earth’s greatest wonders and forces of power, I’m all in. Next up on my Brooklyn Horror Film Fest docket is Split Rock, a supernatural horror that brings our planet’s ancient powers of destruction to light.
Geologists Lauren and Ben investigate a strange anomaly discovered deep within the rocky depths of the Canadian Badlands. After unearthing an ancient force hidden in the hills, the couple must face a series of ever-intensifying horrors.
Split Rock, IMDB
Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) have a love for each other… and for rocks. During a survey of a rocky outcrop, they ponder over something very strange. Bringing out two other geologists, Sam (Olivia Luccardi) and Trevor (Graham Verchere), the quad try to take as many measurements as they can, performing experiments with the stone that only end in broken equipment, bouts of lost time, and eventually, brutal injury. The rock surely has some sort of unknown power, and the more they try to understand it, the more the endless expanse of the area makes them vulnerable and alone. The rock possesses both scientifically unprecedented abilities as well as a magnitude of incapability of letting them survive the survey unharmed.
Although I was viewing Split Rock from my computer screen, I was immediately taken aback by the gorgeous 35mm footage of the Canadian Badlands. Wide shots holding onto the landscape aplenty, this film has an aura like no other. And as a science-loving person, I couldn’t help but be in awe of that scenery by itself, let alone the talk of different rocks and minerals of the area. Split Rock‘s scenery and cinematography were the perfect setting for a slow, psychological, mythical display of cosmic horrors.
And compared to the very human interactions between the characters and their eventual gruesome deaths, the rock feels all the more indescribable, almost like an earthbound Eldritch Terror. Split Rock felt like a mix between the opening shots of The Shining and the setting of The Outwaters. Droning sounds, ringing that burrows into your brain, flashes of light — they’re all small but mighty introductions to the horrors near the end of the film.
And when we do reach the end, Split Rock gives its all with blood and viscera. Besides the scenic cinematography, Split Rock showcases amazing talents by way of special effects. We see everything from hinted bludgeoning to self-inflicted stabs and even a close-up of a hand slowly ripping apart. If slow burn shots don’t get you, Split Rock brings it home with more mortal ways of scaring you.
But even though the end is a gnarly shade of red, I think that Split Rock is solidly in the paranormal, unexplainable realm that strives to scare with “what ifs” and possibilities that the human mind can’t possibly comprehend. If you’re looking for a quick Slasher, this isn’t it. What Split Rock actually is, is dread and delirium from the beyond with body horror to boot.
Beautiful. Bloody. Biotite.
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