I’m an enormous fan and supporter of Nick Szostakiwskyj’s Black Mountain Side–so was Leslie Hatton when she reviewed it for us back in 2016. In that review, Leslie said: “By not succumbing to the need some filmmakers have to explain every strange occurrence, and inserting some well-placed gore effects, Szostakiwskyj turns Black Mountain Side into something viscerally scary”, and I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I was so excited to share the announcement of Nick Szostakiwskyj and cinematographer Cameron Tremblay’s follow-up film, Hammer of the Gods, back in 2017. Unfortunately, years passed and it was never released despite being completed. But why?

Believe it not, releasing an independent horror film is hard as hell and there’s plenty of red tape to cross. As a result, the team made a decision to rename their film to Archons. I suspect we’ll understand more once we get our eyes on the movie itself which, luckily, is soon! A formal release date has finally been set for October 6th, 2020 on digital platforms, so check out the debut trailer and let us know what you think. We’ll have a full review in the near future, but this thing looks right up our alley. All signs point towards it being worth the wait.

Archons premiered in the US at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon in October, 2018, where it won Best Picture. It made its Canadian premiere shortly after at the Blood In The Snow Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario, where Josh Collins took home the award for Best Actor, and the film was also nominated for Best Picture.

Plot Synopsis
Archons follows falling-from-grace rock group, half a decade after the release of their hit single, as they travel deep into the Canadian wilderness on a spirit journey armed with a bag of psychedelic drugs. The journey seems harmless enough… until the isolated musicians begin to realize the terrifying hallucinations they are seeing and hearing aren’t hallucinations at all.