This Crushing Supernatural Chiller Mashes Real-World Horror With Ancient Myth

Bogs and swamps are rarely associated with moments of joy and beauty; they’re usually home to monsters like in Creature from the Black Lagoon or Swamp Thing, or they conjure up fears of sinking into the muck (RIP Artax). Molochunderstands the inherent creepiness of a bog setting but takes the creepy factor to another level by grounding its horror in a bizarre real-life phenomenon. This supernatural horror movie revolves around a woman (Sallie Harmsen) whose life is turned upside down by the discovery of a mummified corpse in the bog near her home. While the connection to an ancient god named Moloch, who demands child sacrifices, is fiction, the idea of bog bodies is not. There’s a natural preservation process that occurs when living tissue is submerged in a bog or marshy area, and the results are kind of what Imhotep’s victims look like after he sucks them dry in The Mummy.This heightens the horror of Moloch by grounding its supernatural and mythological elements in something undeniably real.

‘Moloch’ Kicks Off With Murder and Creepy Corpses

Things have been hard for a long time for Betriek (Harmsen) in Moloch. The movie begins with what we later learn is the brutal murder of her grandmother while Betriek was a young girl and in the house when it happened. The attacker was never caught, and the trauma virtually destroyed her parents’ relationship. 30 years later, Betriek is raising her daughter while living with her parents after the premature death of her husband. Betriek’s mother is suffering from some unknown seizure condition. When a body is uncovered in the bog near her home under mysterious circumstances, it at first seems like just another stroke of bad luck. However, this isn’t just a run-of-the-mill dumped body like you’d find in a murder mystery or crime thriller. While the police initially think it’s a recent murder victim, especially because the man who dug it up was also mysteriously found dead at the scene, it turns out to be a bog body.

Bog bodies are a real-life phenomenonwhere the naturally high acidity, low temperatures, and lack of oxygen below the surface of certain bogs and swamps can keep the soft tissue intact for hundreds or even thousands of years, although not without some changes. As Moloch shows, bog bodies are usually shriveled and brown, almost like tanned leather. On top of that, the bodies are often so intact that researchers can tell what the person had for their last meal based on their stomach contents, or how they were murdered, as is the case in Moloch. Betriek discovers that the bog body might be the victim of a ritual sacrifice in the name of the god Moloch, a deity associated with child sacrifice, specifically. Even worse, there might be a connection between this local legend and Betriek’s own family.

‘Moloch’ Blends a Chilling Atmosphere With Outright Scares

From the very beginning, Moloch combines an eerie sense of unease with shocking moments of genuine terror. The first scene shows a young Betriek playing in a small closet when strange sounds start coming from upstairs. The tension builds as the noises get louder and turn into the sounds of a struggle before a torrent of blood starts to flow through the floorboards and down the wall, some of it spattering directly onto the young girl. Later, one of the archaeologists digging in the bog nearby breaks into Betriek’s home and shoves the blade of a large knife halfway into the mouth of Betriek’s mother before Betriek’s father violently stops him. It’s a harrowing home invasion made even more disturbing by the man’s erratic behavior, which the movie sets up as being supernatural – but only for the audience.

Moloch lets the viewer know a little more about what’s going on than the protagonists, but not too much to ever become frustrating. By letting the audience in on some of the supernatural aspects before Betriek, it heightens the eerie atmosphere while still allowing for brutal moments like the blood dripping from the ceiling and the brutal home invasion. To Betriek, these are obviously terrifying but not indicative of anything paranormal. These are rare but (sadly) still recognizably human threats. The audience, on the other hand, is privy to things Betriek isn’t, which makes it clear something supernatural is going on. We see the strange, obsessive behavior of people who come into contact with the bog bodies, the uncanny figures moving through the fog at night, and we know that something invisible is setting off the hunting cameras Betriek’s father has set up near their home.

The bog itself is a perfect setting for an atmospheric horror in addition to its disturbing contents of human remains. It’s damp, cold, and misty, perfect for obscuring whatever malicious presence is lurking behind the trees in the dark. When Betriek herself finally comes face-to-face with the supernatural, the audience is as eager to get answers as she is, and Moloch ultimately delivers them in an original twist on the folk horror genre. There’s blood, ghostly whispers and apparitions, ancient gods requiring sacrifice of the highest order, and a climax that doesn’t skimp on visceral horror. It’s a great blend of atmosphere and straightforward scares that shouldn’t be overlooked.