The Rake – Yeti

               The Rake is a fresh take on the classic creeepypasta monster. It focuses on the reunion of Ben and Ashley, siblings who watched their parents murdered by a maniac who claimed to be possessed by a supernatural beast known as the Rake. Everyone thought that he was just a run of the mill crazy guy except for Ashley. Ashley has faced her own mental health issues over the years so no one believes her when she tells them that the Rake is real and it is a threat.

                I just want to say, first off, that I love the fact that internet horror is starting to show up on the screen more and more often. The first season of Channel Zero,Lets Not Meet, and now The Rake are all based on internet horror stories and they all absolutely crush Slenderman. Not only are indie filmmakers bringing these internet stories to life, they’re doing it better than the big studios. This is something that makes me incredibly happy.

                The Rake delivers everything you’d want from a bloody creature feature. The kills are nice and messy, the cat and mouse game is just long enough to give some tension, and the final reveal of the Rake is one of my favorite parts of the movie. Speaking of the Rake, what would a creature feature be without a creature? A feature I guess…anyway. You can have all the good acting in the world and the best effects but if your creature design isn’t up to snuff, it all falls apart. That is definitely not the case with The Rake. The titular monster is the stuff of nightmares. I’ve read and listened to a ton of stories about this thing and what Jason Kain was able to sculpt something that, I feel, was true to the descriptions of the Rake.

                This movie delivered something else that I absolutely love. They made characters that were easy to hate. For instance, the character Andrew was a total cunt and within about three scenes with him I wanted him to die. I love when this happens in horror movies because when that character finally gets theirs it’s a nice payoff. I hated this motherfucker so much that when he went into the basement alone, I got excited. I’m not the guy who talks to the TV very often but I remember urging the Rake to kill him slower. Yeah. It was like that. I say all that because, just like writing and directing a truly loveable character, there is a great amount of talent that goes into creating ones that you can really despise.

                It’s a little different than the stories in that instead of being some kind of walking nightmare lurking in the woods picking fools off, the Rake is like a parasite that infects and takes over the body of the host before shedding it’s human form like the world’s most horrifying butterfly. I mean, we’ve all seen plenty campers getting fucked up by monsters movies so this was a nice change. I think fans of the existing lore will really dig this one.

                All in all would I recommend this film? I damn sure would! You can find it digitally or in stores! Go check it out and let The Rake infect you!!