Learning of a potentially intriguing story, a pair of documentarians committed to recording long-forgotten folk songs learn of a potentially long-forgotten song in the Irish countryside and set out to capture it against the wishes of the locals, unleashing a bizarre curse that envelops them both.

This was a rather problematic genre effort. Most of the film's positive points stem from the central setup and atmospheric touches running throughout here which provide a genuinely engrossing sense of mystery. The main idea of relying on the power of traditional and even sometimes generaltional customs, in this case regarding the nature of the mythic song in question, offers the kind of fascinating insight into the past that this one relies quite heavily on. With the majority of the middle half devoted to how this plays out regarding how to honor the traditions of the past that has used a specific medium over time, this kind of corruption makes for an intriguing setup looking at the way it unfolds involving the king of unraveling curse thtat takes place. That allows for some rather chilling scenarios to take place here as a result with the way it all comes to include various gruesome attacks and cofrontations to let the curse play out. Outside of this, though, there's just not much going on here to remain interesting. Far too much of the film is reliant on the idea of the curse coming to fruition but it's never given much of any care of orinterst in what that means or why they're interested in getting the song recorded. The whole concept is so wacky and bizarre that there's no real grounded form in play here to make things have an emotional attachment to it so that comes off rather flimsy and awkward, especially as this one goes along with the aspects of the curse as that doesn't get explored in the slightest so it all makes for a confusing time. When it's not concerned with the aspects of the curse, it's just flat-out dull as very little happens so the pacing here is completely stiffened to the point of plodding blandly along to where it's nearly impossible to care about the story going forward. There's so little life or energy in what's going on that it just doesn't register anything but boredom, all of which hold this down overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Minor Spoilers Ahead.

I was lucky enough to attend an early screening of Paul Duane's first horror feature 'All You Need Is Death'. The plot follows Anna and Aleks as they navigate the unsavory underbelly of black-market traditional folk music archivists. And this is about as much sense as the plot ever makes on first viewing. It is gloriously unhinged, but once you buy into this batty premise you learn that there are shadowy figures willing to pay top-dollar for ancient songs or variations thereof. Anna and Aleks are just the duo to record these songs on tape. In their hunt they hear of a woman who might have a song from the olden days that no one has ever heard before - so they go seeking her out. The song contains more than just lyrics, melody or story. As Aleks and Anna learn soon enough.

This film (that song sequence) will change the way and why of how you listen to music. An extraordinary accomplishment from such a small production - and I couldn't make such a bold claim if this film did not have the musical chops to back up its wild thesis. Let me assure you it does. Ian Lynch's soundtrack is outstanding - an atmosphere seeped in menace and dread. A shout out too to Barry Gleeson & Simone Collins (amongst others) for their brilliant, "in the old way", sean-nós performances. I often found myself relishing the prospect of the next terrifically effective song more than I did the next scare. Up to a point that is - because as we approached the climax the horror builds and builds to fulfil its dreadful, demented promise. And brilliantly so.

A final note. There is a lot going on here. On one viewing I struggled to make recognize some of the foreshadowing as it was presented, or guess at some of the hints and sub-texts (though I was totally enthralled). But now a few days after seeing the film, I think what Duane has cleverly done is shroud the meanings with an opaque veil of storytelling intricacies and layered meanings that will keep Giallo horror, and folk film aficionados discussing for years.

It is folly to predict cult status for a film, as you can never guess what will capture a niche zeitgeist - but I can promise you this: There will be a subset of film fans who will watch this film again, and again, and again. I certainly will - the soundtrack alone will compel me.

Kudos to the entire team. "All You Need Is Death" is an achievement that won't go unnoticed.

Im a fan of foreign horror because they usually offer fresh takes. This movie is no exception and the story starts off interesting and engaging. We don't know who is who or what is afoot.

When the story gradually unfolds, and a curse is revealed, I sought to identify the rules of the curse and the entity who created it.

This revelation never comes, the curse is generic-, something about unhealthy love and betrayal passed down between women by pre-Irish song.

There is a story here. But the resolution is convoluted and unsatisfying. It seems like a cosmic element is at work, but this is not clear or horrifying.

In the end it feels like a bunch of things were thrown into the mix of a modern day fable.