The Nameless

(1999) ***1/2

Upon learning that a young child has been murdered in a brutal fashion, Claudia is convinced that it is her missing daughter. Although the body was badly burned from head to toe with acid and all of the teeth were removed, enough clues suggest that her worst fears are true. Fast forward 5 years and Claudia is now divorced and working as an author. One day she receives an eerie phone call from a girl claiming to be her daughter (e.g., “They told you I was killed but they lied”). Before learning where the girl is being held, they are cut off. With the aid of a retired cop who never stopped working on the case and a reporter working for an occult magazine, Claudia begins investigating the nameless cult who kidnapped her daughter. Through her investigation she learns that this cult is a secret society that has existed for centuries and has had people like Adolph Hitler for members. Apparently the cult is, “devoted to the practice of pure horror, torture, abduction, and killing as a way to purification and power.” Furthermore, the cult believes that as long as they remain nameless they are not responsible for adhering to the conventions of human morality. In other words, they are very evil.

My thirst for horror didn’t end with the conclusion of the Horrorthon. Over the weekend I watched 3 films and enjoyed them all. The Nameless is by the same person who directed Darkness (2002) and shares many of the same atmospheric qualities. Like Darkness, however, The Nameless at times becomes bogged down by said atmosphere at the expense of moving the story forward. Despite its shortcomings, the overall result is satisfying enough to warrant my high rating. The Nameless works because it has an older, unknown cast, it's humorless, and there's no terrible rock soundtrack. What we get instead is a dark, brooding, creepy tale along the same lines as Seven and Silence of the Lambs. Like Darkness, the ending is surprising, bleak, and a bit abrupt but it certainly packs a wallop. This will be great for future ‘thons.