Movies
Sennentuntschi: Curse of the Alps
“Despite the confusing nature of the film, ‘Sennentuntschi’ is a unique and breathtaking experience that captures perfectly (well, presumably) the horrors of isolation and the depths man will go to when alone. It’s dark, sad, and deeply disturbing, all of which make for one Hell of a ride.”
There aren’t enough horror movies that deal with folklore; and not generic folklore, like the boogeyman, but small, specific, and most importantly little-known folk tales and myths from around the world. Occasionally one will crop up (though for the life of me I can’t think of any off the top of my head), but when they do, they’re usually lackluster affairs. Sennentuntschi, however, is not like that. Director Michael Steiner manages to take a little known tale – the Sennentuntschi, a popular myth from the German Alps – and construct a beautiful, intricate, and at times downright disturbing thriller out of it.
A young woman wanders into a small village in the Swiss Alps. Dirty, mute, and covered in a shroud, she attracts the attention of Reusch, the local policeman, who takes her in and cares for her. The townspeople, however, are not entirely convinced she’s not a demon responsible for the death of a local priest, found hanged in the Church. Meanwhile, Erwin, a mountain-dwelling herdsman, and his son Albert, take in Martin, a traveler escaping his past, and combat the boredom with copious amounts of absinthe and the Sennentunschi. Their perverted dalliances, however, are not without consequences, and as the secret of the mysterious woman is revealed, the entire foundation of the peaceful village threatens to crumble.
Sennentuntschi is a beautiful film. Sweeping shots of the Swiss Alps set the stage for the loneliness and isolation that rules the lives of the quiet village and neighboring mountain homes while a booming and, at times, epic score complements the perfectly paced rising tension. As the village’s primary lawman and the man responsible for bringing the mysterious woman into the village, Reusch’s isolation is further enhanced by his rift with the townspeople, who fear his intentions as much as they do the presence of the mysterious woman.
Roxane Mesquida in the titular role was phenomenal (and absolutely gorgeous to boot). With almost no dialogue her eyes were filled with every range of emotional necessary of the character, resulting in one of the best performances in the film. As Reusch, Nicholas Ofczarek brought to the role a sort of passiveness and, in contrast to the religious majority in the village, a sense of kindness that does much to temper the brutality that pervades throughout. Andrea Zogg and Carlos Leal as Erwin and Martin, respectively, brought to the fold delightfully disturbing performances that keep knocking you down and bringing you back in with their ability to seamlessly go from kind and gentle men to vile creatures.
The biggest hindrance lies primarily in the execution. Told through a flashback and, at other times, a flashback within a flashback, the film manages to avoid an explicit explanation for the events unfolding, preferring instead to reveal everything toward the very end of the film The end result is a fairly disjointed presentation that relies on a quick dialogue and yet another flashback to reveal just how and why the events took place. When they’re revealed, you’re left scratching your head and trying to piece together the strangely satisfying puzzle.
Despite the confusing nature of the film, Sennentuntschi is a unique and breathtaking experience that captures perfectly (well, presumably) the horrors of isolation and the depths man will go to when alone. It’s dark, sad, and deeply disturbing, all of which make for one Hell of a ride.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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