The Leech: When Noel Good Deeds Are Punished Indeed
By Thom Ernst
Rating: B-minus
I was hoping Eric Pennycoff's yuletide horror offering The Leech would be a movie about a giant leech attacking people on Christmas Eve. It's possible that someday someone will make that film, but The Leech isn't it.
(I had a similar experience going into Bong Joon Ho's Parasite).
The leech in Pennycoff's film is Terry (Jeremy Gardner), a crude and willfully ignorant man who accepts the hospitality of a devout priest to house him over the Christmas holidays after being caught trying to sleep in the church pew.
The houseguests from Hell (Taylor Zaudtke and Jeremy Gardner) overstay their welcome in The Leech
Red flags are raised almost immediately. But the priest, Father David (Graham Skipper), is not about to turn away any of God's children, even if they ignore house rules and lack the intuition to demonstrate common-placed decency.
Terry is bombastic. He smokes in the house, plays heavy-metal music too late and too loud, and seems incapable of grasping the concept of personal space. Terry is a nightmare guest who makes Randy Quaid's Cousin Eddy (from 1989’s National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) seem as meek and compliant as Bob Cratchit.
Soon Terry is joined by his girlfriend Lexi (Taylor Zaudtke), who may or may not be the woman who shows up at Father David's confessional, admitting to being pregnant and wanting an abortion. Father David is fiercely pro-life and, believing Lexi to be the same woman from the church, accepts her despite the additional inconvenience and disruption.
And so, what starts as one night of shelter and food, becomes a week of torment.
Pennycoff, who also wrote the screenplay, drops hints that Father David might not be as puritanically committed to his calling as he makes himself out to be. The film raises questions about his sexuality, and other transgressions like alcohol and drugs, despite claims of abstaining and being celibate.
Father David's life of solitude and religious convictions unravel the longer Terry and Lexi stay. And what of these guests who overstay their welcome? Are they indeed just a couple who’ve fallen on hard times? Or is their intent more malicious and purposeful than expected?
To that effect, Pennycoff makes a not-too-subtle connection between good and evil's close relationship by standing Terry next to a portrait of Christ and allowing the camera to pick up on their physical similarities.
The comedy in the film rests on uncomfortable interactions where boundaries are pushed, morals are reframed, and actions are manipulated. Things build to an inevitable conflict that is less a battle between good and evil than a conflict between comfort and discomfort, tranquility and chaos.
The Leech is a relatively straightforward narrative that calls to mind director Darren Aronofsky's underrated Christian parable, Mother! (2017), which also deals with religious themes and features unwanted guests. It could also fit comfortably into the home invasion horror genre with a deep dark dab of comedy.
The Leech would be an odd addition to most people's Christmas film library, although we all celebrate in our own way. So far be it from me to dictate what sets your yuletide log afire.
There is plenty of opportunity to embrace the film for its wanton display of Christmas gone wild and a bleak reminder that despite charity being its own reward, the reward is not always worth the effort.
The Leech is directed by Eric Pennycoff and stars Jeremy Gardner, Graham Skipper, and Taylor Zaudtke. The Leech is currently available on all major VOD platforms.