‘Cloven’ features a group of daring college students, (Hayley, Ben [Hayley’s boyfriend,] Marcus, Samantha [Sam], Vincent [Vinnie]) As they venture off into the Welsh Highlands, in search for Celtic Folklore first hand information from locals of the area. Hayley and Vinnie are also enthusiastic art students, hoping to get some great shots of the landscapes and improve their drawing skills. They set out to explore ‘The Brecon Beacons,’ a series of vast woodlands surrounded by mountains and hills. One of the mountains is formally known as ‘Clooties Croft’ – a very daring tourist attraction which is said to be once inhabited by Clootie; the urban legend, also referred to as the ‘Scottish Devil.’ There are still strange happenings occurring, linking back to his presence, to this very day.
Their journey is long, so they designate drivers for every hour. Vinnie takes the wheel and half way through his
shift, a blackbird hits the windscreen with force, leaving a slight crack in
the window. He and Ben exit the vehicle and peer round the back of
the vehicle to find the bird lead on it’s back. The boys question its presence,
but without hesitation, they get back in the car a head on.
They arrive at the woods; Park the car and trek down a path to soon come
to the site. They set up camp under a shady group of oak trees. They chose a
spot completely out of the way of anybody else as they may cause disturbances
for the other tourists. Although they hadn’t seen one. Marcus
sets up his tent quickly as possible so he can get the fire going and be
the first to open a beer. Meanwhile Vincent
is adamant to stay in Sam’s tent, as he has
had a crush on her since freshman year. Sam is
sick of Vinnie’s behaviour and storms off
into the woods.
Ben and Hayley
are heard discussing problems about her moving away to Scotland after the
summer term and Ben gets emotional. Their heartfelt conversation is soon put to an end when Vinnie is caught peering through the small gap in
the tent. The shady figure of Vinnie’s movement is made to look like a monstrous being,
creeping around the campsite.
Sam soon
returns to the site, frantically stumbling over a tree stump screaming. She
says that she “something.” Marcus, being the
‘macho’ man of the group puts down his beer and runs to his tent. As the group
create fuss over Sam’s mystery encounter, Marcus emerges from the tent with a rifle. They
scream. Ben approaches Marcus and tries to
snatch the gun from his grip, shouting “Don’t bring that anywhere near Hayley!” Marcus
lashes out at Ben, but trips and falls to the ground. During Marcus’ and Ben’s
confrontation Sam soon reveals that she saw
a mountain goat. Then the group all laugh at her. They all then settle down and
go to sleep. Marcus keeps quiet, and heads
to bed after everyone else. Camera shows each individual as they slumber.
(camera shows dead blackbird on floor.)
The next morning, all looks well as the group venture off
into the woods. Marcus, on the other hand
stays behind. His male pride gets the best of him, after being confronted by Ben the night before. (The group is unaware of
this. They daren’t approach Marcus as they seem
to be on Ben’s side.) As the others head off, they encounter some
beautiful breathtaking sceneries and landscapes; climbing mountains and
exploring valleys. The group stumble upon a extinguished fire. The smoke still
lingers as it rises above the tall trees. There happen to still be sleeping
bags located n the area and tents, torn open and left there. The light is
barricaded out by the trees, there are no sounds to be heard and the
distinctive smell of smoke lingers in the musky air. On the floor, next to the
fire, barbed wire and wooden planks can be seen. The wire is blood stained and
pieces of hair can be found on the ground.
It had been almost 8 hours since they had left camp, and
without any phone signal, they began to worry about Marcus.
After scavenging the hunting ground for a while, Ben
finds a series of strange symbols engraved in the bark of the trees. Sam happened to have studied Celtic Mythology and
Folklore at University and begins to decode the jargon. She takes a few photos
as she recites the words, written in her work book. But she is shortly
interrupted by a deafening shriek that shudders through the trees. Blackbirds
squawks can be heard, but no birds to be seen. Sam
falls to the ground and Vinnie rushes over
to help her up. Her nose is bleeding heavily. She had become unconscious. They
rush her back to camp to find a first aid kit.
When they return back to the campsite, a scent of dead,
rotten flesh lingers through the thin air. Questions are soon answered as Vinnie holds up a dead rabbit. There are a number
of them, lead next to the fire. [Marcus had
gone out and caught them for something to eat.] As Hayley
approached Marcus’ tent, the stench still
remained high. She noticed that his tent zip had been ripped open, from the
outside. Hayley stopped in her tracks. She
began hearing faint voices, whispering in her ears, Left to right. She
screamed, and Ben rushes over to see her.
[The group blame Ben for Marcus’ death. They kick up a fuss.] There, remained a
gunshot hole in the side of the tent. And as they peered inside, lay Marcus, defaced by his own rifle. [Explain empty
gun barrel] The gunshot is soon to be proved that it came from the inside of
the tent, leaving Ben innocent and the group pitiful.
Meanwhile Sam awakens,
possessed by a demonic entity. She lashes out at Vinnie
ripping out his
throat with her bare hands. She turns to face Hayley,
and shouts at her. But Hayley can’t
understand a word as she is speaking in an unknown language. As she approaches Hayley, Ben
intervenes with a hit to the skull with the empty rifle. They wrap her up in
the tent, constricted by the ropes, and peg her to the floor.
Hayley cries
in Ben’s arms and explains that Sam must be "purified" by burning, live
burial, or dismemberment, which will end her possession and the demon's
assault. With the lack of tools and equipment, they result into burying her.
They hit her with the shovel and begin to dig. Hayley
searches Sam’s bag for her Celtic Folklore
book and finds the translated language that she had written on the side. The
symbols must be read backwards [recite] in order to undo the curse and
completely exorcise Sam. As she recites the
curse, the ground begins to move where Sam lies. She emerges from the marshy pit and grabs Ben, dragging him into the mucky abyss.
He soon surfaces, and all looks well. He explains that he
chokes possessed Sam until she let go. They kiss and claim their love for each
other as the rain pours down on them. She explains that she isn’t going to move
to England, and that she was hoping they could get a flat together. Ben remains
silent, and then opens his eyes, revealing his all black pupils. Then he grins
at the camera. 