I was so impatient to watch this film after hearing n reading so many positive reviews. One review was from our fellow resident top reviewer, Coventry. I mean i trust this guys reviews for horror films. I appreciate his 3000 plus reviews. Respect for Coventry. Finally saw this on an awesome hd rip pirated copy for 50 rupees. Boy, nothing happens for almost 55 mins n considering that the run time is only 76 mins, this is indeed a very slow movie. Maybe one shudnt watch such kinda slow burn films when one is tired or sleepy but in my case i was alert n energetic. The film starts with 3 young fellas going on a trip to visit their friend at his family's farmhouse. The friend has been doing some mumbo jumbo ritual in the basement n v can see that something sinister is locked up. But nothing happens. At the same time, 2 brothers r doing some pagan *hit n they succeed in raising some dead fella from the grave. Sounds creepy but wait til u watch it man. It has lots of flashbacks n no tension. The editing is poor. The cinematography ain't that great. The acting was decent but the direction wasn't that good. Maybe the budget was limited n since its the directorial debut. Some may compare it to Candyman. To top it all, there is a long sex scene without any tits. Now common man, horror n sex goes together. If not sex, maybe some good kills or at least some genuine tension n scary jump scenes man.

The plot is described thus: Three teenagers go to visit a friend at his old farmhouse for the weekend. What they didn't expect was to be stuck in the middle of a centenary war between good and evil… I mention the official 'blurb' because whilst this is a loud, relentless, frightening tour-de-force, the storyline becomes baffling on more than one occasion. There are so many twists and turns and revelations (especially towards the end) that the viewer ends up very satisfied but perplexed.Apolo (Pedro Carvalho) invites his three friends for a visit at his farm. The building has a history – in the past, it was a slave plantation that also cultivated colonies of bees and sold honey (leading to some comparisons between the hierarchy of bees and the puritanical abuse of lower classes – slaves, in other words). In the basement, Apolo has set up a ceremony to free the spirit of a baby's tortured soul. The child is the result of a slave owner, known enigmatically as The Honey Baron, impregnating the mother of one of his subjects, who later killed the child. Two descendants of long-dead slave Bento (Sidney Santiago), Sebastião and his younger brother Luciano, raise Bento from the dead and together they travel to the farm to halt proceedings, knowing if the child is resurrected, then so is The Honey Baron.The sensitive Ale (Mariana Cortines), who is no stranger to hearing voices in her head anyway (and takes medication for this unspecified condition), is subject to some horrifying moments as the spirit appears to seek possession of her. Her friend Maria (Clara Verdier) probably suffers the most, and her relationship with the truly horrifying Honey Baron might well promise nightmares yet to come … There aren't many Brazilian horror films. I'm not sure why this is. Would 'The Fostering' have benefited from some extra clarity? Possibly not. The chaos of the imagery (Directors Rodrigo Gasparini and Dante Vescio are unafraid to use limited colour close-ups as a disorientating effect) and constant subverting of expectations helps induce a memorable series of events that demand scrutiny long after the film has ended.

Brazil is one of those countries that don't have a solid history or big tradition when it comes to producing horror movies, but when the occasional horror title does does pop up from there; it's almost always worth checking out! Until now, this country's horror identity was pretty much solely revolving on the notorious cult icon José Mojica Marins – better known perhaps under his alter ego Coffin Joe – but now two brand new horror prodigies emerged seemingly out of nowhere! Directors' duo Rodrigo Gasparini and Dante Vescio previously just made one little short movie that was meant to be included in "The ABC's of Death" but didn't for some reason, but their long-feature debut "The Fostering" immediately proves that they are two visionary young film makers with a talented eye for morbidity and sheer suspense! "The Fostering" is truly one of the most unsettling, atmospheric and nail-bitingly tense fright tales I've seen in the festival circuit in many years! I watched the film at the Brussels' Fantastic Film Festival and, even though it was well after midnight already and I had seen 3 other films before this one, "The Fostering" kept me wide awake and concentrated even long after it was finished! This is a throwback to true & genuine horror; a combination of grim local folklore tales together with a non-stop ominous atmosphere and shocking imagery/decors. Admittedly the screenplay, courtesy of producer M.M. Izidoro, is a little too convoluted for its own good and I can't state that I fully understand all the twists and themes after just one viewing, but it's definitely a lot more impressive and memorable than the massive oversupply of lame zombie comedies and uninspired torture-porn flicks nowadays. Horror lovers that know their classics will probably agree that "The Fostering" is often very reminiscent to "Candyman" (there surely are worse movies to get compared with, aren't there?) what with its concept of vengeful spirits from the slavery era, voodoo and eerie bee hives. Two centuries ago in rural Brazil, a vicious plantation owner known as the Honey Baron terrorized his black slaves physically as well as mentally and fathered illegitimate children with their wives and mothers. Luciano, a slave fed up with the fear, killed the Baron while his mother killed the newborn bastard child she just gave birth to. In the present day, Luciano's descendants still strongly believe that they have to prevent the child's rebirth once every nine months by hammering a giant nail into the ground where the baby was buried. If not, the child's resurrection will also generate the resurrection of the Honey Baron's much stronger and maleficent spirit. However, the descendants' ritual gets disturbed by four big city kids who intend to release the baby's spirit because they feels sorry for it. To them it's all just a laughably urban legend, but they don't have a clue what type of evil they're about to unleash upon the world… The plot is the most praiseworthy aspect of "The Fostering", but there are many more things that contribute to the unique overall atmosphere of morbidity, like the remote farmhouse setting, the set pieces and costumes (for example the grisly beekeeper outfit), excellent casting choices (Ivo Müller is truly nightmarish as the Honey Baron) and a handful of truly gasping moments of hardcore violence. I reckon this little Brazilian gem won't ever grow out to become a worldwide cult favorite, which is a crying shame, but if you have the opportunity to check it out, please do so!