To its credit, The Vessel attempts to cobble together an interesting premise. It all begins with a typical paranormal investigator/documentary filmmaker who has seen it all. Nothing really shakes him. Then, it involves haunted media, which is always a great concept, before it evolves into the idea of a virus spreading and somehow inhabiting human bodies. While there are some interesting ideas at play here, they don’t all quite gel. The film is also hampered by its miniscule budget and wooden acting.
Michael Breeding plays Jim, the documentary filmmaker who’s introduced via a voiceover. This opening is a bit cheesy, but it does establish the fact that Jim has seen and investigated a lot. Therefore, nothing really scares him. The movie then plays out like a typical haunted house affair. Jim soon meets Jess (Danielle Munday) and investigates strange occurrences within her house. Again, none of this is new. Jess’ statements about paranormal activity are familiar. They’re all pretty standard affair for movies about hauntings.
However, the movie takes a more interesting turn when the concept of haunted media is introduced, specifically a record player. Does it contain the voice of the deceased? Is it a portal to another dimension? The film takes its time trying to piece everything together, before it plays with the idea of a virus able to infect people. This is a pretty neat concept, but it’s not handled all that well and at times, feels too confusing to keep viewers entertained.
To solve the mystery, Jim works with K (Aneesha Edwards), a psychic who helps him investigate, which leads them to discover the source of the virus and the danger it poses. This is when the movie really goes off the rails. The discovery leads Jim and K to the forest, where they do battle with the virus, well, sort of. If I’m even reading this right, the virus takes the form of a man in a denim jacket, which again shows how this film had little to no budget. They couldn’t exactly afford special effects, so they likely had to find a creative way around showing the virus. However, a man hiding behind a tree looks rather absurd, especially considering the mortal danger the virus poses. K also has strange encounters and dialogue with a young woman named Julia (Payton Shae Taylor), which is another concept that doesn’t quite work.
Overall, The Vessel is a very low-budget attempt at pushing the typical haunted house narrative into some strange and unusual places. Again, there are some interesting ideas here, and the creative team deserves credit for trying something different. However, the film is too hamstrung by the tiny budget and stiff acting to get to where it wants to go.
