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To Fire You Come at Last Doesn’t Burn

Mark Carlisle and Harry Roebuck as Squire Marlow and Holt in To the Fire You Come at Last (2023). Screen capture. Severin Films.

To Fire You Come at Last is horror on the border of interesting. This short film is featured in The Haunting Season, an anthology series on Shudder courtesy of Severin Films. Its aspirations are laudable, though its ultimate outcome is far shy of its clear potential. To Fire You Come at Last is many things, but perhaps its best element is how it might inspire others to do better.

The main plot centers on four men in 17th-century England. A wealthy squire has lost his only son to a tragic accident and either employed or invited others to carry the coffin to the cemetery. However, getting to the grave means traveling on a road that local superstitions warn against walking alone at night. Regardless of each casket carrier’s degree of belief, as night deepens, it becomes unmistakably clear something sinister haunts this route. Yet, the real nightmare may not be the specters lurking in the dark.

[L-R] Richard Rowden, James Swanton, Mark Carlisle, and Harry Roebuck as Pike, Ransley, Squire Marlow, and Holt in To the Fire You Come at Last (2023). Screen capture. Severin Films. Four men gather on a deserted country road in 17th century England to escort a casket to the cemetery.
[L-R] Richard Rowden, James Swanton, Mark Carlisle, and Harry Roebuck as Pike, Ransley, Squire Marlow, and Holt in To the Fire You Come at Last (2023). Screen capture. Severin Films.
In a way, there’s a desire to compose some creeping madness. The movie is a simple ghost story that gradually reveals layers like an onion. With every interaction the narrative peels open, exposing another unsettling revelation. To Fire You Come at Last wants to be the kind of movie where frightened people crack into dangerous insanity. The potential is there. The problem is the way events unfold.

Most of the movie involves exposition dumps rather than subtle conversations. It’s a series of declarations instead of tension building dialogue. The walk along the road is reasonably atmospheric. However, despite a well-orchestrated mood, To Fire You Come at Last never adequately mines its opportunities. The main characters tend to talk about growing frightened rather than experiencing things which would fuel their terror. Then, once something supernatural occurs, it reminds a watcher of every missed chance to build this weird tale into something exceptional.

The film reminded me of another fright flick I reviewed not long ago which similarly seemed better suited for audio adaptation than a film. That’s because To Fire You Come at Last doesn’t do much visually. Granted, it initially establishes the empty dark road through a magnificent mix of black-and-white cinematography alongside smart shots. But it quickly squanders a great deal of whatever eeriness it musters.

As far as influences go, writer-director Sean Hogan is likely taking a page from Ben Wheatley’s 2013 cult classic A Field in England. These are both monochromatic, historical psychological thrillers with a touch of the supernatural. The difference between the two is that Hogan never risks being unusual enough to keep his film fired up. It’s like watching a smoldering coal, waiting for someone to toss anything flammable onto it.

Harry Roebuck, Richard Rowden, and James Swanton as Holt, Pike, and Ransley in To the Fire You Come at Last (2023). Screen capture. Severin Films. Men in 17th century English clothes carrying a casket and lanterns along a night shrouded road.
Harry Roebuck, Richard Rowden, and James Swanton as Holt, Pike, and Ransley in To the Fire You Come at Last (2023). Screen capture. Severin Films.

The premise is solid. The performers do a decent job. To Fire You Come at Last is just chronically plagued by lost opportunities to add eerie elements. Implications of the barghest by way of sounds coming from off camera may be fair, yet they seem more like low-budget compromises than sinister storytelling. It’s moments like that which give the impression this would work better as an audio drama.

Of course, that would still require some rewrites. The dialogue is clunky at times with characters often speaking in monologues rather than interactions. Still, quality acting can salvage some mediocre scripts. With that in mind, To Fire You Come at Last has a decent cast, though not one that elevates the material.

Mark Carlisle (The Crown) as Squire Marlow does an impressive job of conveying a complex character. He goes from annoyed skeptic to frightened believer but is also adept at seeming like a bitter grieving father until revelations twist the perception into despicable villain. The target for many of his initial angry outbursts is Ransley played by James Swanton (The First Omen). He’s intriguing as a drunkard expecting an easy payday. However, his loathsome past is gradually exposed as is his own insights into the men around him.

This could have led to some engaging back and forth exchanges. Unfortunately, Sean Hogan has penned exposition dumps instead of interactions. Consequently, a great deal of the revelations in To Fire You Come at Last lack the tension they require to captivate. Worse, some of the later darkest disclosures land without adequate setup. They appear out of nowhere producing more confusion than shock. And despite the film’s explanations, it is conveniently contrived that these four know each other’s darkest secrets.

To Fire You Come at Last leaves too much on the table. Viewers will constantly be waiting for something to happen that doesn’t hit until the film’s final moments. That might be fine, slow burns can be satisfying, but Sean Hogan never composes the right kind of kindling to produce the proper payoff. As such, the movie creeps along promising more than it can deliver. What’s more frustrating, though, is the wealth of potential in the premise that seems squandered.

This could have been a very eerie, engagingly weird movie, full of memorable mood, and avant-garde risks. Perhaps as a lesson in wasted potential it might do someone some good. But that would still require watching it. Fortunately, if you should choose to do so, this is the kind of flick ideal for background noise while doing paperwork at home.

 

Written by Jay Rohr

J. Rohr is a Chicago native with a taste for history and wandering the city at odd hours. In order to deal with the more corrosive aspects of everyday life he writes the blog www.honestyisnotcontagious.com and makes music in the band Beerfinger. His Twitter babble can be found @JackBlankHSH.

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