The Furies (at MONSTER FEST ‘19) ★★

WITH his debut feature, The Furies, Australian writer/director Tony D’Aquino has played it safe.

This 2019 release is a by-the-numbers slasher that suffers from the digital look that unfortunately comes with having a small budget.

There isn’t much of a story and the acting, apart from the lead, is pretty uneven.

Most of the effects also reflect the low budget approach with a couple of exceptions, including the slow removal of a face with an axe which is actually impressive.

These criticisms aside, within specific scenes the film does generate some suspenseful moments and plays out most of the action in full or interior light.

Too many times lower budget horror movies try to hide their shortcomings through close-ups, quick editing and semi-darkness, rendering many sequences close to unwatchable.

The Furies has women being kidnapped and dumped in the bush to be hunted down by madmen wielding knife, axe, machete or pitchfork and wearing human skin, pig, owl, wolf and bird masks.

There is a twist that starts taking the story down another path, but the execution doesn’t lead to any satisfying resolution.

Best of the cast, as you would expect, is Airlie Dodds as the lead, Kayla.

Dodds was also in a much better Australian effort called Killing Ground in 2016. Check that out instead.