Apprentice To Murder

Two things came to my mind while watching the latest retro Blu-ray release from the Arrow Video catalog. One: Actor Chad Lowe ("Highway to Heaven") can actually carry an entire film and has the distinction of being quite underrated. And two: Veteran actor Donald Sutherland ("Don't Look Now") has huge, wide-open eyes in most of his film roles. Both actors starred in the little known "Apprentice to Murder" film from 1988 and it became one of those hard-to-categorize oddities.

In rural Pennsylvania during the year 1927, young 16-year-old Billy (Chad Lowe) works and cares for his caring Mom and abusive Dad. He's also tormented by the local hermit, someone the local townsfolk fear and stay clear of. As a plague hits the area, Dr. John Reese (Donald Sutherland) becomes convinced that the hermit is to blame.

Dr. Reese also has the power to heal and takes the naive Billy under his wing. It's here that the term "apprentice" comes into play, as Reese coerces Billy to commit murder under the supposed commands of God.

"Apprentice to Murder" has the "based on a true story" blurb appear at the film's beginning, and wraps things up at the end with a tidy summary. Part period piece and part true-life crime drama, the lack of success for the film can be blamed on an indecisive narrative, even though the acting from Lowe and Sutherland is above average.

None of the actors appear in the bonus section of Arrow's Blu-ray, but the cinematographer and makeup artist do (in separate interviews). There's also an interesting look at "religious horror cinema," a subgenre that has more horror films in it than one would expect.

"Apprentice to Murder"
Blu-ray
$39.95
www.arrowvideo.co.uk