Artik (2019) User Reviews

Nothing special.

[Otkon · 5/10 · 10 September 2019]

The good: it's grain and well-shot. Congrats for hiring a real DP and film crew with actual knowledge of camera placement, movement and lighting. Most of the cast is good. The music is rocking, and adds to the overall good atmosphere. The makeup is quite professional. The horror is adequately tense.

The bad: the guy playing the baddie is bad at acting. And his dialogue is so idiotic. It would have been much better if he was mute. And the overall film is just kinda there.

Pretty Cool & Quite Flawed

[TwistedContent · 4/10 · 11 September 2019]

With a nice poster from the awesome artist Christopher Shy & a confusing but decent trailer "Artik" landed on my watchlist and, well, managed to disappoint me more than to impress.

"Artik" seems to have all the right ingredients for an awesome ride of horror including well done visuals (nicely done practical gore, actually great cinematography and lightining, kind of grindhouse-ish look etc.), a pretty typical but cool and fitting original score (not so great overall sound editing though), a great looking, murderous villain, rural setting and whatnot. Sounds good, but there were many faults regarding the acting, the story and the point of it all. First of all, the performance behind the character of Artik himself was... shabby. I'm not sure if it's bad acting all around or just an inability to act with voice, but something was off there. The rest of the performances were alright, with Chase Williamson on top. The biggest issue is the story - the synopsis here on IMDb sounds more interesting than it actually is. People have been praising "Artik" saying that "if you like comic book movies, you'll like Artik". I disagree, the comic book shtick plays a very small role in the plot, amounting to only visual references, without having much impact on the overall idea of this flick. Could've been anything else instead of comic books. Also, most of the characters are pretty underdeveloped and don't get a proper closure, because the last 15 minutes are a tiring edit of small scale action scenes. And then it ends. I have to say that the 69 minute runtime (without the end titles) plays in favor of "Artik", in favor for the viewers.

I don't regret watching "Artik" and I liked it just enough, but I can't call this a good movie - it's almost good. One side of the coin is shiny enough, but the other oh so rusty. My rating: 4/10.

The story isn't that innovative.

[deloudelouvain · 3/10 · 28 December 2019]

I read some reviews before watching Artik so I had my hopes up for a good serial killer horror movie but in the end it wasn't that special at all. It all looks like it's been done before, no element of surprise here. The sound gave it a good creepy atmosphere, gave it some suspense, and suspense it needed because the story itself wasn't that great. Overall the acting was okay, not great but not bad either. I'm kind of done with brutal torturing scenes, it was creepy when it was new, now it's all been done before, and better.

Case of great trailer mediocre film. Shame.

[Jester222 · 5/10 · 12 September 2019]

The trailer really did its job well, made me eager to see the film. It looked like a dark, gritty and violent revenge type film. But it's just the run of the mill hick farmer killer who uses his kids as slaves and a nosey straight edge man who decides he'll be a hero and save the kid. And that really is all there is to it. Nothing more. Shame as the film in the trailer looked great. The film is kinda tame really with hardly any gore to speak of and forget character development. It's not bad acting etc but just didn't go anywhere at all. Disappointing.

Great piece of indie horror/thriller work...

[konopisos · 23 September 2019]

Was recommended this film and really enjoyed how well and professionally it was done. The plot kept me engaged and anxious to find out what the world / story would reveal and where the trip would lead. Really solid work. I recommend to check it out. The director did a great job with tension and the gore and violence are shot really well.

Not much of anything here.

[terrencepatrix · 3/10 · 17 June 2020]

I think people are being overly kind to this movie because it's shot relatively competently but there's pretty much no real story going on to the point I don't know if you can really call it a "movie". Once you take out the time the opening and closing credits take up this movie is only about an hour long, and most of that is filled with Artik mumbling and bumbling about and extremely boring and poorly acted scenes that occur in the nearby town. There's only two real scenes of violence/gore to show that he's a serial killer and they're pretty tame, and I watched the supposed uncut version which means the normal version must have somehow been even shorter and tamer.

It's nonsense and even with such a short run time was pretty boring and uneventful. I read other reviews about how the ending sequence was action packed and full of gore...no it's not. This is a nothing movie where no one shows any acting skills, the script is non-existent, and while I didn't hate it or anything I simply didn't care once it ended. Pretty pointless ultimately.

Children of the Sunflowers

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 21 September 2019]

Artik (Jerry G. Angelo) likes to draw, raise sunflowers, and serial kill. He keeps a group of children in the barn to work the fields. His son Boy Adam (Gavin White) is free to roam and practice his graffiti. He befriends Holton (Chase Williamson) a man admittedly attracted to chaos and attends a group because he can. As it turns out, Artik is not the best guy to invite to the group.

The film lacks a decent character build up. Kar (Matt Mercer ) spouts a bunch of nonsense at group, I had no idea what the whole group thing was about. It would have helped with Holton's character.

The blood and gore were mid-level.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

WRONG ENDING

[vanmust · 5/10 · 30 January 2020]

Watching a lot of late horrorslash splatter movies I can say that Artic doesn,t rate poorly if director had added a few twists in the scenario it mighht have been better i.e a more juicy female partner to the bad guy with some sex scenes in trying to seduce one or more of the captive boys....a love interest of the main protagonist who might have been a police officer on a missing corpses investigation,,,and finally an appropriate end for the villain following a previous threat on him by the good guy ie ....forcing acid or liquid metal down his throat..the music score is quite good actually

Bane meets Leatherface

[Draysan-Jennings · 4/10 · 20 September 2019]

Great trailer mediocre movie at best. The main character Artik was pretty gnarly in this film. Reminded me of Bane and Leatherface. I just feel this movie missed it's mark. Didn't see what the connection was with the XXX guy and the boy. The only reason I finished this movie was too see if Artik gets killed in the end. Movie could of been a lot better..

Great Indie Horror

[belleabu · 7/10 · 12 October 2019]

Just viewed this at the New Jersey Horror Con. My first film fest and I really enjoyed this film. Lots of creepiness, blood, horror and good camera work. Acting by all was great, Jerry Angelo as Artik, was a great character, good acting. Story was weird and provided a good horror atmosphere.

TRIES SO HARD TO BE SCARY OR SHOCKING

[Saanwithhisstupidthoughts · 4/10 · 23 May 2021]

ARTIK could've been much better if the plot was given some serious thoughts....even though it would still then fall on the average line...but it felt like too rushed

The acting I can't say it's unwatchable it's kinda okay could've been better

They could've honestly really really toned down on those bgms think they were trying to highlight and make the scenes scary with it but it ends up being annoying.

Watchable but not recommended.

Captivation yet BRUTAL Thriller!

[justanothershotphotography · 10/10 · 18 September 2019]

Artik is a one of a kind horror thriller! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! I loved how quick paced it was and how they didnt have to show every graphic detail for you to know how INTENSE things actually were! VERY well done! Also, Jerry G Angelo's performance as Artik himself was absolutely captivating. He is so sinister yet oddly alurring.... For anyone that likes Scary movies, you DONT want to miss this!

What is your connection to the boy??

[TuesdayThe17th · 7/10 · 17 September 2019]

Hmmmm. This movie is hard on me because it has everything I love in an indie horror film but I can also see why some wouldn't care for it. From the violence to the setting to the music to the actors. I love it all. This is the unique flavor of true indie horror/thriller. With that being said, there are a few flaws but so does almost every indie horror film. This movie has a great storyline going for it with a nice "coming of age" feel but the director seemed to have trouble presenting things clearly and in an orderly fashion. Most of the movie is like this and 25 minutes in I still wasn't able to fall under the film's spell. However, by the third act I was fully invested in the film. I really like Chase Williamson and it was great to see him in the role of a "real cool" good guy. The trailer teases by implying max violence when really the violence is A-typical and almost all of it is shown off screen. Still, for me, it was satisfying enough. I love the casting. Jerry G. Angelo shines as Artik and Chase Williamson is also very good as Holton. It's a tense good vs evil story and the showdown is exhilarating to watch. Another thing this movie does well is keep the viewer on their toes with a loud and impending score that punches ur eardrum with sounds of tension and terror. The actual film stands firm at a 69 minute run time but that's a perfect runtime for this film as it's punchy and to the point..nice work Tom Botchii. 7/10

Underwhelming and barely watchable effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 2/10 · 18 September 2019]

Living in a dysfunctional family, a teen obsessed with comic books being raised with a family of other psychos finds a connection in a stranger who arrives in town looking for help with his addiction problems, and that friendship soon puts them all in danger from the killer.

Overall, there wasn't a whole lot to like here. About the only really interesting segment here is the finale where it builds up some interesting moments featuring the final resolution of the payoff. With all the build-up featured here for the first hour, the final half features plenty of fun as the race to get the friend out of his shackles and trying to overcome the father and wife which is exceptionally fun. The brawling around the farmhouse to get him loose, the big battle where the kids come to his aid and help the son get the friend free and the big encounters around the farm that gets brutal, bloody and quite frantic manage to really help this one a lot as the practical effects work in these scenes and the brutal activity combine together to really knock this out at this point in the film which is what's needed following all the bland build-up beforehand. That said, there are quite a few flaws to this one. The biggest issue of the film's numerous problems is that the film is entirely too cliched and predictable in its setup and overall execution. There's nothing special about the relationship between the stranger and the young kid at the center of the film where he tries to be a good influence on a person unable to change themselves for the better due to the environment he's raised in. None of this is interesting or enjoyable and results in a bland and stereotyped fight for his conscious that is uninteresting to watch and just features nothing horrific or frightening at all. The idea of what he's doing to the kid is creepy in its concept that it's all about the abuse he's been leveling on him but to think that this is attempting to exploit making for an underwhelming time. The other real problem with this one is the lack of any real purpose for what happens here. The idea of the kid being raised by a serial killer in the same town without any police investigating the incidents, no one checking in on the missing kids or what they were doing with them in the first place all just scream out as unanswered questions throughout here. All it does is simply show him being raised in an abusive environment and then bringing the friend into the situation without any reason why he's there which just makes this one that much weaker in the original story with no explanations for anything that happens. On top of the film shying away from the kill scene during each of the murders which don't show anything at all on-screen, these issues here all make this one rather underwhelming any uninteresting.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

Hardcore in your face horror

[DaveXur · 18 September 2019]

This kicked ass on the big screen and is a truly impressive feature film debut from Tom Botchii. Artik breaks traditional rules which is refreshing in the genre and even has a few WTF moments pushing beyond where other horror films are willing to go. Lots of new themes introduced that come at a breakneck pace and gives you more than your typical "one note" Horror film, this thing has some depth to it. Great spastic action scenes supported by awesome performances and gory practical effects make this fly in my book. All of the technical execution and Direction including, camera, casting, effects, etc., are all enhanced by a kickass Film Score. Everything is extremely polished, not just for a first time feature Director, because in the end I don't care how much money or experience you have, as a fan I just want a good film. With Artik, I got a Great one. Overall, it's a different, awesome, new take on horror! THANK YOU!

A Little too Tame

[Tweetienator · 5/10 · 25 September 2019]

Small but effective movie about a "white trash" serial killer and his dysfunctional (or functional, depends on the perspective) family and a good guy trying to help the kids out of that hell. The plus: well shot, some gore and torture and solid acting make Artik a good snack for the aficionado of movies like Wrong Turn, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the like - with a far smaller production of course. The minus: gore level is too low for the real deal and the try to give the movie some emotional depth, remains more or less stuck on the surface. All in all a solid contribution to the genre, but for sure no new cult or must-watch. If you don't like the genre much, don't care to watch.

Bigger ideas don't fully crystalize in an otherwise "okay" story

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 11 October 2022]

The premise wasn't especially grabbing, but I thought I'd check it out nonetheless. I assumed the film would be a more straightforward coming of age horror-thriller in familiar or at least recognizable settings. While that's sort of true, this portends at something a little less ordinary: The world of 'Artik' isn't quite our own; there are suggestions of something more sinister dancing on the edges. The title character speaks in vague terms of having certain beliefs that drive his killings, seemingly borne at least in part from his love of comic books. Moreover, wrapped up with what Artik does describe of his reasoning, there's ultimately an underhanded approach to noteworthy thematic content. Yet none of these aspects are fully realized - filmmaker Tom Botchii intimates at a larger world, but doesn't truly build it; Artik waxes poetic about his motivations, but nothing is firmly cemented; even the comic books come off as but a light brushstroke, despite irregular emphasis. I can't help but wonder if I'm reading more into the picture than is actually present. I'm of the mind that I just watched a picture that wanted its story to be part of something bigger, but it didn't quite go the distance to create that space. This is, after all, kind of ordinary.

It's ordinary, but not bad. The blood and gore effects are good, and the production design and art direction. The cast give performances ranging from suitable to commendable. I'm once again most impressed by Lauren Ashley Carter; I've seen a few of her movies now, and whatever was true of the content otherwise, she has blown me away each time with her skills. I hope to see still more, and bigger, and better things for her. The core narrative, sans dressing, is duly engaging, if nothing terribly special. Though they're nigh intangible, I really like the dangling gossamer threads of more enticing notions as they float overhead.

I admire the work that went into making 'Artik' in every regard. I appreciate the airs of Something More. Yet this is more or less the cinematic equivalent of intending to build a house that stands out from the rest of the neighborhood, then still ending up with what is effectively a cookie cutter design with maybe a paintjob that's a few shades off from the usual. The thought is there; the follow-through is a little lacking.

I think I have a solid grasp on what Botchii was trying, and I love the tack. While it's not accurate to say this feature is a "swing and a miss" - it's no strike, it's no homerun, either. My commendations for the effort; better luck next time.

Brutal, intense and gnarly AF!

[quinn317 · 7/10 · 19 September 2019]

Artik is one of the most bad-ass indie horror thrillers to surface. There is so much to absorb from this film and it continues to hit you even after it ends. Holton becomes an unintentional ally to pre-teen Adam an abused boy speeding down a very dark path. Their unintentional friendship will set off a dangerous chain-of-events that will leave your jaw on the floor. Adam's parents, played skillfully by Lauren Ashley Carter (Gags) and Jerry G. Angelo interact with Adam, but neither are who they present themselves to be. A bit of misdirection at the beginning is purposeful, yet effective to the progression of the story. There are a couple of areas that leave the viewer to make some assumptions of their own but it's not a huge misstep and doesn't pull you out of the film.

Watching Artik is like watching a train wreck, as in you can't look away. It's as if you are a voyeur and shouldn't be seeing any of this. It's shocking, uncomfortable and gruesome but you desperately need to see how and if the chaos will resolve. I love the psychology of this film as it explores the argument of are killers born, made or a combination of both. As well as the nature versus nurture theory. Just how much does our environment shape the person we become?

Best horror in years

[sue-36172 · 9/10 · 28 September 2019]

Ive watched alot of horror movies over the years, but have not seen one that ive enjoyed like Artik for a very long time. Completely original, which is rare these days, i couldn't stop watching til the end. Tom is a fantastic talent at his craft and I look forward to more productions from him in the future. Brilliant.

Sick mind, sick life, some sick reviews.

[rgeauxracing · 7/10 · 17 January 2020]

I intend sick to mean that, not cool or "awesome" as is the popular perversion of the day, If, like "jester222" you think this wasn't gruesome, you're sick! This was difficult to watch, and if this wasn't playing because it was next, and I wasn't busy doing things, I'd have turned it off. Also, unlike how the so-called "story-line" describes it, it isn't abut a mental case teaching a boy how to get away with murder, (what idiot thought of that?), It's about a psychopath who thinks some truth will become apparent to himself and his son, at the moment of death after torturing someone to death. As I stated, sick. Though, begs the question of the state of mind of the movie maker. and perhaps the viewer?

Brutal and Hella Nuts!

[GablesCinema · 10/10 · 18 September 2019]

Tom Botchii's ARTIK is as insane and brutal as you want a good horror flick to be. The trailer and poster art by Christopher Shy piqued my interest but when I got the chance to sit down and watch the film for myself, I wasn't the least bit let down. I can't wait to see what the filmmaker comes up with next.

My Review Of "Artik"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 10/10 · 30 September 2019]

"Artik" is a tragically emotive and cruel opus. It is dark, heavy, and often beautiful. I mean, as beautiful as a film about serial killer, his damaged wife, damaged life and psychologically chained children can be. The characters are emotionally scarred, painstakingly built persons that are heartbreaking, anxiety bait.

The characters are rich, often disconnected creatures that seem at a crossroads, filled with conflict. And yet they feel real, almost organic, in a distopic view of their own lives. Even the antagonist is almost torn eternally between his art and his "dark passenger". But only to a degree. As impressive a creation he may be, his is by no means likeable.

The acting in "Artik" is stellar. There is no distance between their talent and these characters. They bring this chilling and compelling nightmare to life vividly. Tom Botchii creates a strong story here, one that permeates a sense of unease which is only enhanced by a beautiful shot visual story. Seriously, the cinematography is a horror element in and of itself.

Speaking of the horror, "Artik" starts out strong. The kill sequences are blunt, cruel moments of shock and unapologetic graphic gory scenes. And they show as realistic as any in the industry- save the "snuff film" stuff. Honestly the only thing I didn't like about the film was that there wasn't more gore. Not that this film is really lacking. It is it!

Overall "Artik" is a solid movie. It has a fully formed and well written story with strong, emotive characters. It stays dark and foreboding. The horror is visceral splatter film elements done brilliantly. I was captivated, disturbed, excited and stunned from the first scenes till the bitter end. I highly recommend "Artik" to all horror fans.