The Alchemist Cookbook

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The Alchemist Cookbook

Released Oct 7, 2016

1h 22m

Horror

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

19 Reviews

34%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

An isolated man (Ty Hickson) lands in hot water when he summons an ancient demon in the backwoods of Grand Rapids, Mich.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

The movie peaks at its midpoint with a chilling nocturnal encounter that blurs the line between hallucination and the genuinely supernatural; the rest of the movie pivots around it, but slowly.

Nov 3, 2016

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Tom Keogh

Seattle Times

A chapter-driven series of sketchy scenes powered by a striking, manic performance by lead actor Ty Hickson.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 1, 2016

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Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

AV Club

Whatever The Alchemist Cookbook has to express, it expresses through scenes that feel as though someone were dared to do something while a camera rolled, in the near-extinct tradition of the transgressive underground movie.

Rated: B+

Oct 5, 2016

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Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

Potrykus has created a piece of uncut cinematic theater that relies almost entirely on the performances of his two actors, working the underlying threat of something terrible and unseen as well as any two performers could.

Apr 28, 2020

Full Review

Emilie Black

Cinema Crazed

The Alchemist cookbook is not a bad film but it has issues with pacing and with sections of the story feeling like filler.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 19, 2020

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Mark H. Harris

Black Horror Movies

The Alchemist Cookbook remains a refreshing and noteworthy milestone in the history of black horror cinema.

Rated: 3.2/5

Jan 8, 2020

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Tim H

Let me start with the good before the bad. The acting was great from both actors, and both had some great dialogue to chew on. Second the protagonist was fairly relatable for a character that does so little speaking. his line about getting a truckload of Doritos while he is talking to his cat weirdly reminded me of myself. Now to the bad. The overall story was too vague on what was happening, and rather than a confrontation with the demonic entity in the forest, it end with our protagonist screaming at the forest in what I think is supposed to be horror as his cat and the demon scream. This movie is also a tease. These chapters each get you ready for arcane horror and madness, and what is delivered is a whole lot of nothing. Overall this is a movie that I think would make a better short story.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

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Tyler B

It almost loses you in the opening act but the outstanding performances from the only two actors in this tale are enough to keep you going. And you'll be happy you did until the last ten seconds when the film plummets.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/20/23

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Buck D

No action and confusing waste of time

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Art is ambiguity, but there's such a thing as too much ambiguity. This vignette style character study is somewhat interesting but the lack of back story, history, meanings makes it seem pointless. It's often fun when a writer/director invites the audience to fill in information instead of handing all of it out but this film asks us to fill in everything and assign meanings to the characters, the pills, the possum, the trees, the reality of some evil being, and more. One question I was left with was, is a Dorito sandwich a thing?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

Complete and total garbage. The end. Thank me for saving you 1 hour, 22 minutes of your life.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

bryan b

Rotten if you hate movies that do not wrap up at the end. Great if you love head scratchers that you have to watch a few times to try to figure out. Cookbook could have been mental illness, demons or meth.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Joel Potrykus

Director

Ty Hickson

Sean

Amari Cheatom

Cortez

Joel Potrykus

Screenwriter

Bryan Reisberg

Producer

Andrew Corkin

Producer

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The Alchemist Cookbook: Trailer 1

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The Alchemist Cookbook: Teaser Trailer 1

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Synopsis

An isolated man (Ty Hickson) lands in hot water when he summons an ancient demon in the backwoods of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Director: Joel Potrykus
Producer: Bryan Reisberg, Andrew Corkin, Ashley Potrykus, Joel Potrykus
Screenwriter: Joel Potrykus
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co: Uncorked Productions
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 7, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 7, 2016
Runtime: 1h 22m

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