About the blog:

Well, hello!
Thanks for stopping by to read my opinions about movies that I see. Some are older and most are new. Some I go to see in the theaters (both live performances and movies) and some I watch from the comfort of my own couch and even more, I will watch from the amazing Netflix app.
Of course, these will be my personal thoughts about the targeted item, however, it will give you an idea of whether it's a colossal waste of time or worth a shot!

Friday, October 15, 2010

The Shrine


GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info:  14 October 2010
Director: Jon Knautz
Writer:Jon Knautz and Brendan Moore
Running Time:  1 Hour and 25 minutes
Rating? Not Rated
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 5.6 of 10
MY RATING: 4 of 10

STORYLINE
After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of Journalists link his disappearance to a remove village in Poland. They travel there in hopes of getting the story but as they unravel the secrets behind this mysterious village, they are pursued by hostile locals. Unable to escape, the become the next victims of the ritual human sacrifice. Forced into the gruesome relate of a true survival horror story.

MY REVIEW
The best that I can say about this movie is that it's a really good B Movie. It definitely take itself too seriously for its own good. There are lots of elements that could have been taken to a better place or even to a sense of humor. The characters were lack-luster and boring with little real plot enough to carry themselves through to the next scene. Nothing much to make me root for any of them to win or survive. It just feels wrong. Polish people played by non-Poles filmed in Poland which was OBVIOUSLY not Poland. Could have made that at least a joke.

The story follows Carmen, played by Cindy Simpson, who is a tenacious troublemaker journalist.(side note-- why is it always a tenacious journalist who finds the crazy mystery and has to solve it?) She's on the hunt for missing American Eric Taylor, played by Ben Lewis, who we already know was sacrificed by a bunch of weird robed Polish Locals. For some reason, she believes she is the only one who can solve this crazy mystery... Where is the Scooby Mystery Machine when we need it! We meet her cameraman boyfriend Marcus, played by Aaron Ashmore. He's not the voice of reason and sticks around while the others retreat to a seemingly safe distance.

I did like the idea of the setting in the rural creepy town of Albania Poland and all of the feels that it evoked. Seemed to me a little Hostel-ish in the weird setting and "Americans fall victim to the creepy guys from insert-a-country."

Yes, it's got some really creepy scenes specifically when the group gets lost in the misty forest and runs across the weird demon-like statue in the mist and find the corpse of the boy they are looking for in a chamber underneath.

I did visually enjoy the buff tool-wielding locals that were chasing them! :) But as a final note, the end is likely the best part but it's not a real winner for a scary or horror movie. It falls flat and leaves me wondering if I could have done it better.

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