There’s no messing about in director Christopher Alender’s The Old Ways, we’re thrown straight into the story, with Mexican-American journalist Christina (Brigitte Kali Canales) being held captive in a simple, sweaty abode. She had returned to where she was born – Veracruz – to write an article on the area’s myths and folklore. She left after a traumatic experience when her mother was thought to have a demon inside her. Now, she has the demon in her, at least according to a witch doctor, Luz (Julia Vera), and her son Javi (Sal Lopez). Christina is rightfully terrified by being held under duress and put through various tests. When her cousin Miranda (Andrea Cortés) appears, she begins to settle but is further thwarted in her attempts to escape. Her only way out may be to allow the exorcism to take place.
Alender and screenwriter Marcos Gabriel manage to create an oppressive atmosphere by setting the majority of the action in one location. Chickens and rats are Christina’s company when she’s not being subjected to horrific physical pain. The narrative takes a turn midway, but the jump scares continue, and there are some doozies. There’s more to the film than demonic possession, though. Aspects of cultural displacement are also touched on with Christina’s relocation and seemingly abandonment of her homeland. She uses her work and substance abuse to fill the voids in her life that leaving her possessed mother may have caused.
With some great scares and nightmarish imagery, The Old Ways is an exciting twist on the exorcism film, with plenty to enjoy.
