A struggling high schooler acquires good medicine… or is it bad medicine?
A bullied teen with the eating disorder pica (Elijah Nelson) lives with his mother (Natasha Henstridge) in a mobile home outside Phoenix. They call on a gruff healer (Lance Henriksen) and the boy suddenly has the mojo to face the bullies, as well as attract the girls (Kayla Carlson).
"The Unhealer” (2021) is comic book horror with a high school milieu. The basic plot and tone harken back to “Christine” (1983) in which a persecuted misfit gains an advantage from some dubious source and proceeds to wreak vengeance on his harassers. The difference is that this one has the Southwest setting, mystical AmerIndian bits and budget of "Bone Eater" (2007).
Being a riff on the “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” theme, the movie addresses the issue of whether or not Kelly is better off with or without the “medicine.” If Kelly is denied protection & justice due to the condoning of adults & authorities, is it wrong for him to take matters into his own hands? If it’s not wrong in principle, how far should he go in regards to dishing out punishment? How far can he go before he becomes worse than his arrogant persecutors? These are interesting questions.
Meanwhile the intriguing faith healer of questionable morality element can be traced back to early 1974 and the origin of Steve Gerber’s Foolkiller in Marvel’s Man-Thing comic. The application here is different, so it’s not like it’s a total rip-off.
Being straight-to-video, “The Unhealer” has the budget of a decent TV movie and looks it. But this is made up for with an effective cast and compelling writing featuring snappy and sometimes amusing dialogue, comic booky though it may be (there’s a type of quasi-Kryptonite, for heaven’s sake). As long as you don’t expect an award-winning flick, it’s entertaining.
The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot at Apache Junction & Superstition Mountains just east of Phoenix & Scottsdale in the heart of Arizona.
GRADE: B/B-
