Animosity, The Velocipastor Director, Brendan Steeres’ First Film

Animosity has indie filmmaking King, Brendan Steere’s name attached to it. Despite releasing in 2013, consider this title an unearthed horror movie gem. Animosity made an understated appearance at the Fantasia Film Festival 2014. A consistent message resonated among reviews online: this low-budget narrative harbors a distinctive quality that demands an audience’s attention.

Brendan Steere commands an enthusiastic cult following, credited largely to his sensational feature film, The Velocipastor. Renowned among fans of Steere and of offbeat cinema, Mother of Movies stands proudly in this crowd. I have unabashed adoration for the horror-comedy that showcases a priest boasting a dinosaur alter-ego as his superpower. I appeared on a podcast to talk about it, (listen to that by following the link, at the bottom of the page.)

I also came across some musings from the director-writer Steere proclaiming Animosity was his senior thesis. He also scrawled this sentiment on the database Letterboxd;

“You know what I like about Animosity? It somehow manages to land right in that intersection between reptilian-cold-calculation and oneiric waking nightmare. It’s specific in its cruelties and vague in its big picture. 

It SEETHES. It broods. It’s a really interesting, unique little shriek of a movie and I’m really proud of it.

Also, everyone should hire Tracy Willet. This movie lives and DIES by her performance.”

Brendan Steere quote about Animosity on Letterboxd.com

Brendan Steere Has a Serious Side, & I Like it

And he should be proud. Animosity is the kind of flawed horror movie I particularly like. There is the odd audio clank or noise that stands out. Some scenes are far too dark and quite frankly, frustrating. The story is slow to get started too and I found myself a little distracted until about mid-way when something happened that made me get up and rewind the movie. I realized this was no ordinary woodsy horror movie.

Opening scenes show a woman chasing another woman as she crawls along the leafy ground. Before long she slays the screaming victim and blood sprays from her as she lies behind a large tree obscuring our view. Like any slasher of its kind, I automatically assumed I was in for a standard remote location affair. When the story switches over to two spouses relocating to the vicinity of the murder we just saw I guessed I was in for the type of story where the crazies stalk and harass them eventually.

More neighborhood villainous types are drizzled into the narrative. One, in particular, Tom, armed with a shotgun menaces Carrie with alarming indifference. Her husband waves away her complaint. What’s more, he tells her calling the police will only make matters worse.

If I am being slightly ambiguous in my thoughts on Animosity, it’s because spoilers would ruin it. The main thing to remember is that Carrie (Tracy Willet) is not only awesome in her role as the gas-lit, possibly bat-shit wife but that her journey here is positively riveting. I came away from watching this knowing I would immediately watch it again.

Bad Posters for Good Movies, Animosity 2013

See below for your streaming options. For now, Animosity is available as a rental in most countries but is well worth a look. Ignore the fact it’s been picked up by Wild Eye Releasing in this instance. In addition, I know we’ve included the trailer, but don’t watch it if you hate spoilers.

I give Animosity

4 If Elizabeth Harvest were something else out of 5

Full Animosity Movie Trailer

Ravenousmonster.com reviewed the Animosity 2013 movie too. They think it is a solid entry to the niche as well.

Where to Watch Animosity

Animosity is streaming on: