Alice and her best friend Lauren inadvertently set a hellish curse in motion after surprisingly acquiring a mysterious shrunken head. Wanting to know more about their fiendish find, they pay a visit to a popular paranormal podcast host Hunter Perry of “Beyond the Veil”. Hunter discovers it’s true authenticity of the ages-old object and in hopes of creating a rating boost, he plans a LIVE podcast in which the tale of the shrunken head will be introduced to the masses. Little do they know by playing the game and calling her name they will release the malevolent demonic spirit of Lilith Ratchet.

This film opens up with a scene of two girls involved in “the game” cursed by Lilith Ratchet (we will get more into this later on in the review). One of the two grabs a knife and bows before a haunted chest that contains a shrunken head. As she raises the knife and prepares to stab her own stomach, her friend Shelby shrieks in horror and takes off upon witnessing Lilith Ratchet lurking behind her friend. As for the unnamed woman, the knife becomes useless as Lilith Ratchet gouges out the victim’s eyes and carries on to locate Shelby. From this point on, viewers are shown Shelby running up several flights of stairs then running into a bathroom, and hiding behind a see-through sliding shower door… Dafuh? Out of the WHOLE house, you’re telling me that, THAT was the best place to hide?!

World’s best hide-and-go-seek player!

We next meet Alice (Katelynn E. Newberry) and Lauren (Brianna Burke). These two women end up visiting an oddity shop with the intention of purchasing incense. When they come face-to-face with the cashier – who is later referenced as Styxman (portrayed by D.J. Remark), they are informed that he is well aware what is “about to happen” to the two ladies based upon his spiritual perception. After this brief interaction, the two are intrigued by a mysterious chest, that was seen in the previous shot. After being told that the container was not for sale, the two individuals steal it from the counter while the cashier was looking through the back of the shop.

What follows is a mashup of scenes involving interaction between the secret shoppers and a man by the name of Hunter Perry (Rob Jarger), who happens to hosts a paranormal podcast. The two women explain that they are fans of his show and they sell him the chest with the shrunken head inside. Following the discovery of a creepy poem included, they go about researching and learning about Lilith Ratchet. After familiarizing themselves with the backstory of Lilith Ratchet, who resembles a cousin of the Black Bride in the Insidious series, they are told of the game that is played amongst individuals, which ultimately summons Lilith Ratchet.

As said at the beginning of this review, this is where most of the movie kills the suspense. The game is compared amongst the characters to a game of hot potato and musical chairs. With that basic understanding, it becomes evident what occurs once Lilith is summoned. If you are the last to have the hot potato – you are out. Similarly, if you do not have a chair prior to the music ending – you are out. This film even goes as far as LITERALLY playing both games in their essence, by tossing the shrunken head around a group of friends and chanting the poem included within the chest.

One positive that I must say about this film would be the killings. A couple of them were executed quite nicely by Lilith Ratchet herself. Leaving the end for all of you to watch, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Kudos to that!

All in all, this movie was not terrible but could’ve surely used some additional assistance to help the flow of the film, the plot overall, and the performances. Would I recommend this film to someone else? Of course. Simply put, I would highly recommend everyone to try everything and see everything at least one to finalize their own conclusive opinions.