The Rake is a 2018 horror film based off of the Creepypasta character of the same name. Staring Shenae Grimes-Beech, Stephen Brodie, and Rachel Melvin.
When siblings Ben and Ashley were children, their father was a criminal psychologist working with a patient claiming to be haunted by an entity called "The Rake", which forced him to commit horrible crimes. Said patient breaks into their house and kills Ben and Ashley's parents before killing himself. Twenty years later, Ashley is still scarred by the incident, while Ben seems to put in behind him. They go to a get together for their cousin Nicole, who announces her pregnancy. Unfortunately that's when the Rake decides to rear its ugly head.
Tropes
- Ambiguous Ending: Ben kills himself after revealing he's The Rake's host. The Rake manifests from Ben's dead body and begins leering down towards a traumatized Nicole. Police sirens are head not too far away, as well as police lights are seen. This gives Nicole a very slim chance of survival, but the movie ends before we can find out what happens.
- Animalistic Abomination: Subverted with The Rake. While the Rake is often portrayed as an animalistic monster acting out of predatory instinct, this film portrays the Rake as more of a demonic entity that can spiritually influence some of its victims. It still has a corporal form, that barely resembles it's classic appearance.
- Anti-Climax: Ashley prepared to confront and face the Rake once and for all...then she is shot by Ben, quickly bleeds out, at which point the Rake possesses and manifests from Ben and begins to menace Nicole.
- Asshole Victim: Andrew's curt personality towards Ashley despite her plight, doesn't earn him much sympathy when the Rake slaughters him.
- Break the Cutie: Ashley has been suffering for years and is a broken wreck by the time of her adulthood.
- Cruel Mercy: The Rake kept Ben and Ashley alive for so long because it wanted to spread its influence.
- Decoy Protagonist: The film focuses a lot on Ben and Ashley, as two siblings traumatized by a Rake possessed killer as children and tormented both of them for years. You think this would build up to a confrontation, but Ashley is killed just before facing the Rake. Ben is possessed, commits suicide and the Rake emerges from his body. As it turns out they aren't the Rake's target...its Nicole it's after, specifically her baby.
- Demonic Possession: How the Rake operates here. It goes from host to host, possessing them into killing others and causing self harm on its victims. It has a corporal form which emerges from its latest host, Ben.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Downplayed, but Andrew lashes out at Ashley and airs out all his frustrations towards her during Nicole's pregnancy announcement. Why ? Because she didn't show happiness at Nicole's announcement.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: Nicole is the last person alive by the time of the credits, with the Rake menacingly staring her down.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Inverted, but Ashley was forced to have an abortion due to her mental health issues and fear that the Rake will kill her baby. The experience has left her emotionally broken for years.
- Hate Sink: Andrew, Nichole's husband, is shown bit by bit to be an curt prick, with a growing annoyance and disdain for her cousin Ashley and her mental health issues. He snaps at Ashley for not being happy during Nicole's pregnancy announcement, venting all his resentment and frustrations at her, and yet rants in annoyance about how he's the one considered the asshole; upon hearing Ashley's story about a traumatic abortion she's had, Andrew tells her to her face that she's pathetic. Towards the ending, he is all to eager to cause physical harm to Ashley when he thinks he hears her in the basement.
- I Lied: Ben wants to appear as if he faced his past and put his years of fear behind him. Turns out he's just really good at hiding the truth from his friends, but the Rake has the same hold over him.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: It's revealed when Ashley became pregnant, the Rake began tormenting her again, threatening her baby and giving her nightmares. When Nicole announces her pregnancy, the Rake reveals it's going after her baby now.
- It Can Think: You wouldn't expect it, but the Rake does display intelligence and an understanding of human emotion. Unfortunately it thinks maliciously and uses its victims emotions to hurt them.
- Jerkass: Andrew is very abrasive and condescending towards Ashley, and quick to blame her for the smallest shortcomings such as not showing emotion at Nicole's pregnancy announcement. When he hears Ashley's own traumatic abortion story, he leeds down at her and calls her "pathetic". Just before its death, it's implied he's willing to cause her physical harm when he thinks he hears her downstairs. And yet he's annoyed and confused that he's considered the asshole.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Part of Andrew's disdain towards Ashley stems from concerns towards Nicole and how Ashley could potentially harm her and the baby. He tries to justify his case that Nicole suffered a miscarriage before. Then again, the fact that people suffering from mental illness are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators kind of makes him even worse.
- Lack of Empathy: Andrew is very impatient towards Ashley despite the fact she is clearly troubled and scarred by her past experiences. He hears the traumatic story of how Ashley was forced to have an abortion due to her mental health issues - by way of being tormented by the Rake - and calls her pathetic.
- Only Sane Man:
- Inverted. Ashley is the only one who truly understands what's going on but is mentally and emotionally broken by years of torment by the Rake. Of course no one would take her seriously.
- Ben appears to have gotten over his trauma years ago and appears to be more well adjusted and living a more fulfilling life than Ashley. Subverted as he lived in torment of the Rake too and has been doing a better job at hiding it than Ashley. He also becomes the Rake's host.
- Sadist: It's not enough the Rake likes to gruesomely slaughter its victims, but it also enjoys emotionally breaking them as it has been to doing to Beth.
- Serial Killer: One of the Rake's previous possession victims was this. This also makes the Rake one by proxy.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The Rake is still alive and virtually unchallenged. Neither Ben nor Ashley face their childhood monster. Everybody but Nicole is dead. Nicole is last seen being menaced by the corporeal form of the Rake.
- Stepford Smiler: Ben appears to be a emotionally healthy and well adjusted man in his adult life, who put his childhood trauma behind him. This is in contrast to his broken sister. Truth of the matter is, he's just a broken as she is and has been putting on a convincing act to hide how badly he's really scarred. He is also the Rake's newest host.
- Uncertain Doom: The movie closes just before we see what the Rake does to Nicole. While police lights and sirens are seen and heard not too far away, it doesn't look good for Nicole. The police have, at best, a slim chance of saving her.
- Wendigo: The Rake is explicitly compared to this early in the film and we see it functions pretty much the same as a spiritual entity that attaches itself to a victim and forces or drives it to do horrible things before it can physically manifest.
- Would Hurt a Child: Zigzagged. The Rake possessed killer doesn't immediately attack Ben and Ashley as kids out of Cruel Mercy so that it could spread to them. It is specifically going after Nicole's unborn baby and caused Ashley to terminate her own pregnancy out to fear that the Rake will kill her child after receiving haunting messages from it.
- You Killed My Father: The Rake is responsible for killing Ben and Ashley's parents. Their father was a criminal psychologist who was trying to help a murderer with his "delusions" about the Rake.
