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After losing his family in a tragedy, a detective investigates a massacre at a school. Could the cases be related, and what’s the Vatican’s interest?

While never less than enjoyable, and boasting decent production values, Belzebuth is a bit of a muddled mess, throwing in everything from possession, to the birth of a new messiah to mass killings.

Emmanuel Ritter (Joaquin Cosio, Quantum of Solace) had suffered tragedy in his life, not least when his child was stabbed to death in a frenzied killing by a nurse who then took her own life. Five years later and a school shooting shares similar circumstances, as does the mass electrocution of swimmers in a pool.

Why this is happening is slowly revealed to us as Ritter is joined by a priest, a statue of Jesus comes to life in a church, and an ex-communicated priest (Tobin Bell from the Saw series with heavy metal beard and tattooed head) kidnaps a child. The dialogue lurches from Mexican-Spanish to English, depending on who’s on the screen, and it just feels like it needed a few more script drafts and a paring down of the abundance of ideas.

Verdict: Well-made but ultimately confused Mexican horror that’s more likely to leave you scratching your head than hiding behind your blankets. 6/10

Nick Joy

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