JP Nunez
I have to be honest, when I first heard about the trailer for The Curse of Professor Zardonicus, I didn’t pay much attention to it. That name sounds like the kind of cheap B-movie that’ll make you wish you could go back in time and stop yourself from wasting an hour and a half of your life, so I figured it wasn’t worth my time. But then I changed my mind and decided to give it a shot, and man, I’m glad I did. Here’s the official plot synopsis for the film:
When college student, Greg, is searching for a thesis topic he finds an interesting story on Facebook. Another student, Darren, explains to Greg that he has been assaulted on campus and wishes to tell his story through a documentary. Darren recruits Greg to help him prove the existence of an urban legend, Professor Zardonicus. Greg agrees, as he needs to complete his thesis project. As the two go on their journey, it is revealed that Darren’s story is wildly imaginative and Greg fails to believe him. In the end, we see that Darren lied about his story for attention. However, when Darren and Greg are out getting the last of their footage, they are attacked and Darren mysteriously disappears. Is Professor Zardonicus real after all?
I’m a total sucker for cryptids, so that premise alone is enough to get me interested in this film. I need to know if Professor Zardonicus is real, and until I do, the mystery surrounding him is going to stick in my brain like a bad earworm.
Along similar lines, the trailer for The Curse of Professor Zardonicus also makes Darren look like a complete lunatic, so I’m curious to see just how crazy he really is. Could he be the mastermind behind this whole urban legend? Or could he have orchestrated his own attack and kidnapping at the end of the film in a last-ditch attempt to convince people that this creature is real? I wouldn’t put either of those options past him, so I really want to know the truth about this seemingly insane character.
On top of all that, this trailer also has some nice touches that make it feel like a real documentary. For example, the actors look like legit college students, not 30-somethings pretending to be a decade younger, and the scene at the end where Darren has to correct Greg about Professor Zardonicus’s name humanizes the characters (especially Darren) a bit and lets us know that this film isn’t going to be all doom and gloom.
When you put this all together, you get a really compelling trailer, so I’m excited to sit down and watch The Curse of Professor Zardonicus. The movie looks like a believable fauxmentary with interesting characters and a really intriguing central mystery, and if it lives up to the promise of its trailer, it just might be one of the best sleeper hits of 2022.
The Curse of Professor Zardonicus hits VOD on April 29, and you’ll be able to pre-order it through Apple TV on April 15.
