The Leech – Film Review

Father David, a Catholic priest struggling to grow his congregation, encounters a stranger by the name of Terry asleep one morning after Mass. Terry is without a home after a fight with his girlfriend Lexi and with Christmas less than a week away, David offers him a place to stay for the night. What begins as a simple act of kindness quickly turns complicated as Lexi arrives shortly after with news of being evicted from her house.

Unable to turn away this helpless young woman, David allows both her and Terry to stay with him through the holidays on the condition that they open themselves to the healing power of God’s love. Yet the harder David tries to reform the lives of these seemingly innocent strangers, the more he himself falls victim to their toxic ways, leading to the belief that their arrival is in fact, a test from God. Will David pass the test and accept his new houseguests as they are? Or will he set aside the ways of Christ and resort to blood-soaked, Old Testament justice?

When it comes to Eric Pennycoff‘s The Leech, one thing is for sure – it’s an incredibly well-shot and well-directed movie with a straightforward story, although it’s certainly one that’s highly predictable, and it’s one that doesn’t necessarily have any surprises in store for viewers.

On top of that, it’s also a film that’s definitely going to test the patience of its audience since it never really brings anything major to the table in terms of a plot until the third act. It’s extremely weird and legitimately head-scratching, and it makes the film practically impossible to rewatch down the road.

To be completely honest with you, while watching this movie, there were certain times in which it truly felt as though I were watching some sort of black comedy instead of a full-on horror movie. The tone in this film is extremely inconsistent, going from a comedy to a drama to a romance to a horror. It’s all over the place, and sadly, writer/director Eric Pennycoff isn’t able to find one he wants to stick to primarily.

Easily my favorite scenes in the film are the ones in which our lead character gets extremely angry at this older couple for sinning in his house and for simply acting up. These scenes can be legitimately hilarious and super well-acted. That, and all of the scenes in the third act where things actually start to get chaotic. Literally. The Leech practically becomes a different vehicle during its curtain call, and it’s the movie I was waiting for the entire time.

This is one of those movies where you can tell that the director is remarkably talented and he can definitely make some good things, but the film you ended up watching was a bit hit and miss. Despite not necessarily enjoying The Leech all that much, I’m certainly excited to see what else Pennycoff has up his sleeve because he’s a promising talent. Let’s just hope that with his next project, he sticks to one tone.

The Leech is a tonally confused mess of a holiday horror film that’s never quite able to tell a compelling story, despite Eric Pennycoff’s direction being superb.