Over the last few years, I’ve backed a handful of indie film projects via crowdfunding campaigns. Black Chariot is one of the films done by The British Horror Studio/Hex Studios, which is one of the groups I’ve tossed more than a few bucks at.
Their thing, generally, is make some classic feeling films.
Between that being their goal and the fact that they’re a little indie studio in England, that means a few things. Mostly, it means they’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
Black Chariot definitely doesn’t feel like something new or modern. That’s a double-edged sword. In this case it means it feels really, really slow (clocking in at just shy of 2 hours) and that it’s got a bit of melodramatic acting in it. On the plus side, it’s got some great style (being done in black and white with a very noir feel to the lighting) and there’s an interesting story to be found.
But you do have to kind of find the story. It’s told in a disjointed surreal way with a lot of it suggested more than stated. And since the whole thing is a bit surreal to begin with, well… the actual intended story could be different from what I think it is.
At its heart, this is a bit of a morality tale, starting out with the aftermath of a heist gone wrong. The mastermind and his helpers, along with a girl who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, are on the run with the MacGuffin (a red briefcase) when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
Strangeness ensues after one of the helpers needlessly murders the girl and we find out the mastermind is having a (very slow) heart attack.
Eventually, all but one of them ends up dead… passengers in a ghostly car that looks an awful lot like the one they were in to begin with… the Black Chariot.
While I enjoyed it well enough, I’d be lying if I didn’t think it could have been about half an hour shorter. The shots that are in place throughout the film certainly gave it a certain atmosphere, but most of them went on too long and wouldn’t have lost anything being shorter. There were some other odd dialog and editing choices made that could have tightened things up a bit and made some story beats a little more clean and clear.
If you really took the edit to a vicious level, this could make a great episode of the original Twilight Zone.
Overall, it’s definitely on par with what BHS/Hex has done previously: pretty good, but not quite spectacular. Definitely targeted at a niche market and made with hard work and love for the genre and craft. That I definitely appreciate. Maybe you will, too… if you can get your hands on a copy.
- The Love Witch – October 4, 2026
- Black Chariot (2026) – October 3, 2026
- Earth vs The Spider – October 3, 2026
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