Racism is often the backdrop for the villains in lots of horror movies. The Welder, which was released worldwide on February 24th, 2023 wants to show you what that looks like when a doctor decides he can cure it all. The story follows Roe and Eliza who are drifting apart when Eliza’s PTSD becomes a strain on their relationship. She is sleepwalking and traumatized from a military stint that left her with demons she simply can’t vanquish. Instead of therapy, time, and subtle compassion, Roe decides a weekend away will fix all her troubles. He is convinced that she just needs to lean on him to feel better.
It’s the relationship between the leads that found me second-guessing much of the tawdry script. Instead of being lured in by the presence of a stereotypical off-kilter scientist, I couldn’t help being stuck in the dialogue between Roe and Eliza. The two constantly called each other babe like they were in the throes of a mitigated romance. But it was the controlling and gaslighting behavior of Roe that left me a little miffed. As The Welder pushed through its runtime, I disliked his character more and more which made any empathy for him harder and harder to reach.
When Gaslighting Makes Your Love Stronger
Roe is the type of guy who offhandedly is glad when they discover there is no cell phone service. He figures he shouldn’t be talking to her mom about her problems so much anyway. She should be talking to him. He is resentful she can’t simply unload her memories to him, and he constantly pushes and complains about it.
I would have preferred he put as much effort into researching where he had booked instead of harassing her to be freed from her anxiety immediately. But that’s exactly what there is to contend with in The Welder. Filmmakers want you to know this place is isolated. But it’s an environment meant to bring them closer together because she has nowhere else to go. But I digress.
Reliant on what is meant to be a subtle attack on the senses, we are treated to welders’ gloves that scatter what can only be assumed is human remains around the property. Unfortunately, when the big picture of what is truly going on is revealed this series of events is never really explained. Nor does it quite fit into what is really going on. As Roe and Eliza come to terms with a holiday rental that is “nothing like the pictures” there is a generous amount of knowledge thrown toward the audience. There are loads of missing people in the area and our loving couple is in some kind of peril.
Is The Welder a Good Movie?
The Welder is not particularly finessed performance-wise. Some of the scenes put together are even laughably so. By the second half of the film, Eliza’s detective work uncovers a bunch of hairy details that are waved away by her current mental state. In most narratives, this is a horror prop that is the least favored by Mother of Movies. Here it doesn’t work at all because one minute Roe is cantankerous about their host’s hospitality and the next he throws her under the bus when she is found screaming in a room and says she saw a man in a welding suit. That’s what happens when you’re stressed. Men in welding suits turn up.
What I did like about The Welder, was the ending. In a complete 360-degree turn, the ending of The Welder is what will set this mad scientist movie apart from others of its ilk. Sure, it’s completely preposterous and nonsensical. But I liked the idea that an ending like the one seen here was created.
The Welder is rated
2.5 if Get Out was fused with Frankenstein out of 5
The Welder Trailer 2023
The Welder cast includes Vincent De Paul, Roe Dunkley, Camila Rodríguez, Cristian Howard and Anthony Vasquez.
Writer and director David Liz (Majesty Girls TV Series) and co-writer Manuel Delgadillo.
The Welder was originally shown at Popcorn Frights in 2021. For another movie like The Welder, add Gone in the Night, The Rental, or The Goldsmith next.
Distributed by Terror Films. For more from them, check out their website.
