The Seeding (3½ Stars)

This is the 19th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

A man has gone into the Utah desert to photograph a solar eclipse. He's not named in the film itself, but in the credits he's listed as Wyndham Stone. If I understood correctly, he's a high school teacher. On the way back to his car he gets lost. He sees a small house in a crater. The only way he can reach it is by climbing down a ladder. The woman who lives in the house (also unnamed, but listed as Alina) doesn't give him directions, because she claims that she never leaves the crater. She gives Wyndham a meal and lets him stay the night, but the next morning the ladder is gone. The crater walls are too steep to climb out. Alina makes it clear that she wants Wyndham to stay with her.

There's a gang of six boys that stands at the top of the crater shouting abuse. They taunt Wyndham, pulling him up on a rope, but then dropping him back into the crater.

Months pass. Wyndham can't escape, and nobody comes looking for him.

It's a horror film with similarities to classic films like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Hills have Eyes", but the violence is subdued. It's more of an atmosphere of claustrophobia. I have difficulty rating the film. It clashed with the extreme violence of the previous two films. Unfortunately, I had to leave quickly after the film finished. I need to discuss it with others.