The Offering

Saw this film at an early screening, was really surprised to find en emotionally charged studio horror film w a lot of heart wrapped in barbed wire. This film makes you scream out loud, cry at certain moments, and even laugh. The end packs a sick twist and I'm very curious to see how horror fans dissect it. There were a couple moments that perhaps leaned a bit too hard on jumpscares but overall you can really feel the genuine love and care from its filmmakers. I wasn't going to leave a review but after the q&a I realized this film is much deeper than i realized and so wanted to pay my respects. Special mention to Game of Throne's Paul Kaye who just killed it!

"The Offering" offers a not-so-original but effective script told from a Jewish perspective. The cast gives well accomplished performances and the director's job is well done. One of the great merits of this production is its cinematography that generates a gloomy atmosphere by making the most of the filming locations. One notorious flaw is the CGI special effects that turn out to be fake in several scenes. The demon's design is very good, although in some scenes it ends up being distorted with digital touch-ups. "The Offering" is not a masterpiece, nor is it a lousy production, it is a decent film that achieves its purpose of entertaining.

I knew when I sat down to watch this, that I wasn't in for a masterpiece.

That being said, I was still left a bit disappointed with how reliant on (predictable) jump scares and the classic "eery soundtrack" this movie was.

At times it felt like a knock off of The Conjuring movies, with judaic lore sprinkled in to give it a semblance of originality.

If the characters had been more developed and they had been less indulgence on generic tropes, it might have been a movie worth rewatching.

All that being said, it wasn't a bad movie either. The special effects are well done, and the set design is above average. I also enjoyed the attention to detail in some scenes.

If you like possession films I think you'll enjoy this one!

As it stands it's an okay movie to watch at home in the couch with a large bowl of popcorn, and maybe some hot sauce to bring the spice this piece is lacking.

I was not impressed. The premise has potential (an ancient Jewish-kabbalistic demon is on the loose within an orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and turns on innocent people), and the setting in an old town-house with in the basement a mortuary is atmospheric and pleasantly creepy, but that's about it. The as horrific intended effects only come from several noise-burst-induced jump-scares and creaking doors, it's not enough to make this into a satisfying horror-flick.

The story is complicated, for instance the nature and intentions of the demon are unfathomable (it was apparently summoned to bring a dead loved-one back to life, but for some reason it now kills people and even feeds on children), and the CGI of the demon itself is hardly scary, it has the surprising form of a giant moose or deer with big antlers. The constant apparition of a ghost in the form of a little girl is rather cliché, and towards the end, when the main characters have some kind of climactic show-down with te demon, things get rather repetitive and in spite of all the turmoil even tiresome. The acting of Emily Wiseman is fine, but Nick Blood goes way over the top, with his constant wide-eyed horror-filled gazes or sinking into baffled stupors.

This really was your average, run of the mill horror flick. Reminded me of a mix between "The Vigil" and "The Autopsy of Jane Doe". Not as good as either of those... but still successful to a degree in its own right.

I would say where this lacked the most would be in originality. The movie looked great - beautiful shots, lighting and atmosphere...the script was good, the acting was solid, the pacing was decent/kept you engaged, and yet still... it just wasn't all that enthralling.

Entertaining? Yes. It just didn't excite me all too much. Not to mention it relied a lot on jump scares. I think if they had chilled on those and focused on making it authentically creepier, finessed the storyline a bit by attempting to infuse some originality into it with less cliche horror tropes I think that would have helped immensely.

But again, this was still entertaining, just don't go into it expecting to see a modern day cinematic horror masterpiece. It's a fun, casual watch. I give this a 5.5 rounding up to a 6. Would recommend.