Spidersecu
Don't Believe the Hype
Inadvands
Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
Gurlyndrobb
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Scotty Burke
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
tomgoblin-44620
Until now.So, the sacrifice is supposed to close the gate to Hell (or something)? But,this town is already Hell! How could it be any worse a place? The vilest crimes imaginable are its daily business. De' Debbil already done ate it. There was some technical skill involved in making it. OK. Just like there is some technical skill in a high level arson job.This bucket of excrement spills itself on the most basic rules of fiction writing. It's denial of human behavior sucks all the human qualities out of it leaving a movie that is impossible to relate to or respect. It's cancer on film; more repellent than its personification of the demon.This writer and director will have to go through their so-called careers with this stinking chunk of trash hung around their necks. Maybe we'll be lucky and it will keep anyone from financing any more work from these craven, sick bums.There are certainly a lot of weak, cheesy failures in the horror genre.But, this one creates a class of its own. The lowest. The movie as spawn of Satan...Whew, glad I held back on my criticism!
jesusfreeq
This movie was doomed from the first frame. The director and producer(s) should get jobs bagging groceries-they'd be a better service to the public! Don't mean to be cruel, but in a largely Christian nation it's common knowledge that NO AMOUNT of "human effort", (even "blood sacrifice") can be used to fight beings and/or powers from hell. Also, when a demon is told to do something (like leave one's child "in Jesus' Name"), it CANNOT resist, and blithely do what IT wants to do, period, end of story! (James 4:7) Therefore, I scored this movie a 1/10, because when I watch a movie that has any kind of "religious format" to it (no matter what religion is portrayed; Christianity or other), I expect there to be ACCURACY in the portrayal of that religion's format. Otherwise, the whole movie is laughable at best, and nauseating at worst. This one was both, IMHO. "Hollyweird" doing what "Hollyweird" does best: completely ruining what could have been an at least "entertaining" movie. So don't waste your time. Having seen this one once, it's one you can bet I'll NEVER see again!
michellegodfrey
Classic example of a film that had potential but which also had a producer who failed to see the importance of an actual story-line. (Which made any sense)The story follows a family being lured to a village on the pretense of the father (a pastor) taking a job at the village church. The villagers have an ulterior motive. One of the family members is selected to be possessed by the devil, in a pagan type "wickerman" village ritual. The devil (occupying the body of possessed family member) is then left about its business to kill all but one of the family members. The remaining one is used in a further ritual to banish the devil back to wherever it came from.The next family is lured to the village to continue the cycle.All this is fine and dandy. But there is no explanation of crucial background details / any details to make sense of the plot?Why the devil is given a sacrifice from a family to possess for just long enough to kill part of that family, before being unhappily banished again?What happens if the cycle doesn't take place?What is the criteria of the ritual which needs to be fulfilled? One dead, two dead? Once a year? Maybe Just don't bother and see what happens??Also things happen throughout the film which seem irrelevant or unexplained;At one point the father within the doomed family is rendered unconscious with chloroform over his face and locked in a church. Why did that happen? Did they intend to save him from the devil?At one point the other pastor of the village coughs up black blood when the possessed member (devil) is injured - I hoped this would lead to a twist in the plot which explained that he was manufacturing the whole need for this ritual due to an evil pseudo identity- but nothing more came of it.At one point there is red crosses painted on the doors and at others scenes of sheep having their blood drained into buckets- can we assume one is connected to ther other. Can we assume the red Sheep blood crosses keeps the devil out? (Why?) Assuming things is the theme of this movie.all in all it's always enjoyable watching scenes of possessed people killing their family members. Even if completely random with no explanation for why it is necessary is ever given.On a side note Can't help but notice striking resemblance between "the devil" and the grumpy girl from the well in "the ring":)
Spikeopath
What a waste of story potential and cast. Plot has James Tupper and Anne Heche as a religious family moving to Stull, Kansas, a place rumoured to contain one of the Gateways to Hell. Pretty soon it's evident that the locals are not all they seem to be, trouble is is that the makers take an age for anything of note to really happen on the screen, and when it does the intended frights and terror are tepidly played. Clancy Brown gives his character some plausible heft, Rebekah Brandes gives the best performance as the troubled teen striving to save her sister, but everything in the second half of the film falls apart; or down a giant plot hole if you prefer! The cool ending saves it from total damnation, mind. 5/10