The Painted

What a cool surprise! A fresh take on an old idea. There have been movies that use pictures & mirrors as portholes, but there is alot more going on here.

A woman is contacted & informed that she is the executor of her cusions estate. Her family travels to the house where odd events begin. The house is filled with paintings of the decendants of the original owner and at night the paintings come alive.

An interesting cast that works well together. An amazing house and overall set design. The lighting was great, erie st times. What a difference good writing makes! The story keeps moving and is intertesting.

A young guy named Sasha Sibley was the Writer and Director and wow, i cant wait to see what he does next. This film is good, start to finish. Every now and then a good one comes along and this is a good one.

I appreciate the challenges that come with a low-budget production, and I made an effort to manage my expectations while watching. The horror concept is fresh and intriguing but lacks support from the cast's performances and script. The lead actress's expressions could have been more nuanced, though the older daughter demonstrated stronger acting skills.

I appreciate the seamless movement of the paintings, particularly when one is reflected in the mirror. This aspect of the movie truly stands out to me and enhances my overall enjoyment. If a more talented cast were assembled or if this concept were integrated into the Conjuring franchise, it could enhance the film's overall potential.

This movie is best described as just another generic horror film. The concept is not very original, although the idea involving the paintings was somewhat intriguing at first. Unfortunately, the film fails to build any real tension or establish an atmosphere strong enough for the scares to be effective. The visual effects were also underwhelming and turned what should have been frightening moments into unintentionally laughable attempts to scare the audience.

With a major studio like Blumhouse attached, this could have been more enjoyable and better in quality, even though many of their recent releases have also become quite formulaic. Just imagine if Mike Flanagan had directed it. He could have turned the story into a powerful supernatural horror film. As it stands, the movie is forgettable and lacks anything that sets it apart from the flood of horror content released these days.

The acting is decent, and the overall production quality is fine aside from the effects. However, that alone is not enough to make the movie entertaining. It is certainly not a terrible watch, but it does not offer much to look forward to. Sadly, that makes it pretty forgettable overall, which is one of the worst things a movie can be. [4.9/10]

Basically that...

What I did like about it was it's very old fashioned style. None of the OTT flourishes that permeate Horror films these days. No extreme sadism or violence. No annoying overacting.

And, like others here have said, it is a good concept, rather imaginative, and I thought the visuals were done well, especially in the way they blended the 'Real' with the Unreal (I don't want to give too much away...)

Also, with many films like this where a family is going through this kind of stuff, usually the acting is not so hot with a lot of the Drama overdone, etc. In this case, I really did like the way the characters were developed (primarily the parents, the children really didn't have much to do) and their reactions and the way they dealt with each other, particularly in dramatic or uncomfortable scenes, were very well done, realistic, and believable.

Also, like some others have said here too, the ending is probably not as effective as it could be, finishing with a bit of a whimper...

But, if you are not expecting a super modern Horror movie with all kinds of extreme violence and effects and such and can appreciate an older fashioned yet imaginative style, then you might find this one fairly entertaining. I gave it a decent '6'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY PARTICULAR WAY OF RATING:

5 - Flawed enough probably to give it a pass.

6. A decently passable story maybe worth a watch.

7. A solid film, well made, effective, and entertaining.

And, obviously, you can probably figure out what above and below these would mean... : )

"The Painted" is one of those films that gets overlooked - at first - but then captures the human imagination and produces a cult classic. A definite watch!

This is a story about a house full of paintings and the couple that inherits it. The paintings are mostly portraits of high quality. I won't spoil the plot by adding more detail here, except to say that the paintings reveal "The Painted".

This is an excellent, rather novel plot that tells itself once conceived. You will experience more than one chill and shiver and I'll wager that you jump several times, too. You can't get that kind of feeling from Hollywood these days, but you can mos def get it from this indy production.

If you want to experience something spine-tingling new, then you should pop some corn, roast a dog, kick back and get ready for a scary ride as you marvel at "The Painted"!