John Hawkins is the Sherriff of the lakeside town of Lone Crow investigating a body in a boat that washed ashore in his district. The body is a mess, and Hawkins quickly brings in coroner Jacob Redgrave, while his reliable officer Parks starts researching to find evidence of missing persons. The coroner quickly identifies the body is effectively shredded and missing all of its bones. Parks finds out the clothing and ID of a missing man, a physicist named Cole Parsons who apparently came to the area and hired a guide to take himself and his crates of equipment upriver to a remote house only accessible by boat. The person who took him is Meg, an ex girlfriend of both the sheriff and the coroner.
Hawkins decides a trip upriver to investigate the house Parsons was staying at may shed light on his grisly death. He brings Redgrave along, and Meg knows where to go so they take her and her boat. On the way out they hear strange, ominous noises that seem to come from everywhere all at once. Not long after they arrive at the house, but something is off. Meg realizes the house looks different aged far beyond one year since she last was there. Inside, the decrepit mansion has more weirdness. A mysterious surging generator, a strange room filled with arcane trappings, and then Linda, Parson's estranged wife shows up....she's been looking for Parsons ever since an event where their daughter disappeared.
The story rapidly escalates with one new twist after another. As with so many other well done movies I hesitate to say any more; this is best watched for effect. I will say this much, though: I bought the movie on a lark because it was listed as in the cosmic horror genre, and that is 100% on target. Indeed, while it does not attempt to replicate any specific Lovecraft or mythos tale, it does have a nontrivial amount of From Beyond in it's DNA.....there's a definite sense that Edward Tillinghast's machinations were a bit of inspiration for the story here, though the actual nature and execution in The Breach is most definitely its own unique take.
A couple observations that are maybe teeny tiny spoilers: First, particle physics and occult black magic are probably best not mixed together. Second, I notice the Rotten Tomatoes score is fairly high, but the popcorn meter (which I think is the audience score) is really low. Do not be dissuaded; I suspect the low rating is because this movie does not end on a positive note; quite the opposite, it ends like all cosmic horror tales should, utterly devoid of any sort of happy ending for our poor protagonists.
Anyway, the soundtrack as always helps make the movie, and this one is no exception. The gory FX are almost all practical, and the third act of this movie is utterly bonkers, as it should be. Solid B for me! I liked it enough that while I do have it on Vudu, I may see if I can hunt around for a proper Blu-ray for the collection.
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