This review was originally published as part of my coverage of Fantasia 2022
A disgraced reality TV star is recruited to save a real estate agent’s husband from a death cult in Cult Hero. Kallie Jones (Liv Collins) is a real estate agent in Owen Sound distressed about losing clients to Cynthia Doyle (Jessica Vano) and the poor state of her marriage with Brad (Justin Bott). To help Brad regain his mojo, Kallie drops him off at the wellness centre Hope Acres, run by Master Jagori (Tony Burgess). However, when Kallie returns to pick up Brad, she is shocked to find that he was been brainwashed and wants to stay. Realizing Hope Acres is a cult, Kallie recruits the help of Dale Domazar (Ry Barrett), the washed-up star of the single-season reality TV series Cult Buster.
Cult Hero is the latest film from director Jesse Thomas Cook (Monster Brawl, The Hoard, Deadsight), written by Kevin Revie (Deadsight) from a story by Cook, Liv Collins, and Tony Burgess (Pontypool). The film stars Ry Barrett (The Demolisher, Chamber of Terror) as Dale Domazar, a self-proclaimed cult buster and deprogramming expert. Washed up after inadvertently causing a mass suicide, resulting in the cancellation of his reality series, Dale is recruited by a desperate Kallie Jones, played by Collins, to rescue her husband Brad from Master Jagori and Hope Acres before his “ascension” ceremony.
Cult Hero is an action/horror/comedy built around the lead performance of Ry Barrett as a somewhat brainless oaf who sees this job of infiltrating Hope Acres as solely a chance to relaunch his reality series. The film is filled with much ridiculousness, such as skull-masked cult assassins and Master Jagori sporting a flame thrower. As a whole, Cult Hero is some dumb fun, featuring a new iconic character for Ry Barrett in the form of Dale Domazar.
Purchase Cult Hero – Blood in the Snow 2022 from Amazon
