Thursday, August 26, 2021

Behemoth

According to the Bible, Behemoth is a chaos-monster, who is destined to battle it out with Leviathan. He is thought to resemble a hippopotamus. You won’t really see anything like that here. The creatures are more goat-like, presumably because of the demonic associations. There are plenty of rough beasts and infernal goings-on in Peter Sefchik’s Behemoth, which releases tomorrow on theaters and on-demand.

Joshua Riverton considers himself a whistleblower, but usually that term is reserved for people who come forward with evidence of wrongdoing. He is more of an accuser, who has made charges the chemical company he used to work for is responsible for the mysterious toxins killing his young daughter. Apparently, the corporate Behemoth has really good PR, because Dr. Woeland (dig that name), the snake-like director, is able to spin and stonewall with ease (like the press wouldn’t eat up a good sob story with a big business villain, like pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving).

Desperate for the truth, Riverton confronts Woeland, with his flawed friends, Keelee Crawford and Dominic Wagner. However, when Woeland’s suspiciously strong and intense body guard resorts to violence, the hostile encounter turns into a desperate hostage situation. Technically, Woeland is the hostage, but he seems to be in charge of the situation. He also seems to be responsible for the weirdly trippy, nightmarish visions that start tormenting them.

Sefchik is an experienced specials effects artist, so he gives full reign to his talents creating the sinister creatures and hallucinatory visions seen throughout the film. The monsters are impressive, but the screenplay is laughable. Honestly, the themes and narrative can be somewhat fairly compared to Timothy Woodward Jr’s train-wreck,
Checkmate, which is not a good place to be.

Yet, oddly enough, the acting is pretty presentable. All things considered, Josh Eisenberg holds up relatively well as Riverton, given the flailing histrionics required of him. However, Paul Statman chews the heck out of the scenery, in a good way, as Doc Woeland.

There is a lot that makes little or no sense in
Behemoth, but it has monsters—and goats. There is an ominous sense of evil throughout the film, but the unsubtle environmental messaging is the stuff of eye-rolls and face-palms. Not recommended, despite the effects artistry, Behemoth releases tomorrow (8/27) in theaters and on VOD platforms.