Review: Totem

(imdb.com)

Is teen horror making a comeback? It certainly seems like it. For quite some time, this subgenre has burned out slowly; most notably with the crash and burning of the glossy, mediocre and boring Ouija. But, with films like Wish Upon and Amityville: The Awakening, it looks as if were in a renaissance. But, while film makers turn back toward these films, the question remains: will audiences be willing to stick around and watch? Totem would suggest that the answer is no.


Released by Cinemax and already in the peripheral of 2017's more impressive releases, Totem follows a teenager with a creepy relationship with her father, who in turn must protect them from a supernatural force that invades the house when the father's new girlfriend moves in. If the premise sounds unoriginal, it's because it mostly is. But if only to exasperate the film's flaws, the movie's eventual reveal and overall execution are equally as poor and unoriginal as the premise.


Totem stars Kerris Dorsey (Ray Donovan) as daughter/sister-turner-caretaker, Kellie, Ahna O'Reilly (The Help) as the dismantling newcomer, Robin, James Tupper (Revenge) as the father and Lia McHugh (Hot Summer Nights) as Kellie's sister. Across the board, each is equally tepid in their role. McHugh is somewhat more acceptable as the oddball youngster with little understanding, but outside of that, this cast sloppily fills the roles in a way that makes them seem tacked onto the project. Dorsey looks to be having fun in her chaotic role but her relationships between the other characters are unanimously cringe and Tupper, while making a valiant effort to create a dad whose try his best, never seems to have any real empathy or depth.


Narratively, Totem is a sloppy. Whether it’s the lack of commitment to character development or the lack of a consistent villain, there are just too many inconsistencies. What begins as a supernatural flick diverges into a crazed slasher far too late, Kellie's sister is odd but no one quite ever figures out how or why exactly. Instead it’s mentioned frequently, but only in passing, and Robin is maybe younger than the father but it’s never laid out fully how big the age difference is or what exactly the problem is.


The biggest flaw of all is how plainly boring Totem is. There isn't a single moment of tension, a single half-heartedly thrown in laugh or even a character that's worth rooting for. Totem has a lot of things working against it and does little to push forward. It's difficult to say Totem deserves to go unseen but, in a landscape with far better movies, the small release of it is completely warranted. 3 out 10.