The Nightgown

Colorful Indie horror is relatively entertaining, but strapped with muddled storytelling

In 1976, three teenage girls from a Catholic school take a day hike to a remote cabin in the lonely hills of SoCal to investigate the mysterious death of a student years earlier. Was it due to an exorcism gone wrong, poisoning from holistic medicine or simple child abuse?

They say watching a movie is like seeing someone else's hallucination. You have to be willing to enter into the film's ‘world’ to appreciate it. If you can't, you won't. That’s the thought I had while viewing “The Nightgown” (2023), a surreal low-budget Indie horror with bits reminiscent of “The Exorcist” and “The Wicker Man.” The budget was about $1 million with the bulk of that spent on a replica 1930’s cabin, which means there wasn’t much left over for the rest.

The female protagonists are played by Kate Lý Johnston (Jodi), Elizabeth Rath (Peg) and Baracha (Lori). The director doesn’t fail to showcase the first one’s derriere in short shorts every chance he gets, but at least he knows how to shoot women, no pun intended. Meanwhile Elizabeth has a certain appeal, as does Baracha in an exotic way.

The filmmaking is mostly proficient for a family & friends production, except for an issue here and there, like the lame floating nightgown or the hammy acting of the groundskeeper. Despite the “demented fever dream” tone, there’s a beauty, spiritual depth and artistry to the proceedings that kept my interest, but the writer/director needed to hire a scriptwriter to tweak the story for a more compelling, less head-scratching viewing experience. I’m speaking as someone who enjoys putting the pieces of a challenging story together, but this needed more coherence to make it rewarding.

Some issues are never explained, like how does this Catholic minister have a daughter who’s about 11 years-old when these particular clergy take a vow of celibacy? I suppose it’s possible he had the daughter before being ordained. I'm assuming Ruth is the mother, but does that mean she's the minister's ex-wife or wife?

The flick runs 1 hour, 16 minutes, and was shot in the desolate hills of northwest Los Angeles.

GRADE: C/C-