The Reincarnate

Mr. Julian, a wealthy "laudator temporis acti", aesthete, and patron of the arts, is diagnosed terminal. He quickly puts into motion the complex ritual which has kept him alive for many centuries...alive, at least, in a manner of speaking. His memory, you see, is a continuum which has been passed down through generations of recipients. This transfiguration occurs during an ages-old rite which requires two things...a suitable successor, and a virgin sacrifice.

THE REINCARNATE is a film of interest chiefly to those with a fondness for the more cerebral elements of horror. Spare of action and bloodletting, emphasis is instead placed on the eeriness of harbingers in the storyline, and the creeping buildup to an unforeseeable conclusion. The cast does a marvelous job here, especially Jack Creley as the mysterious Mr. Julian, and Jay Reynolds as David, the headstrong young sculptor who has been selected as a worthy link in the chain which has kept an ancient memory "living". It's a minor, yet thoughtful picture with a few glaring deficiencies, foremost an undeveloped substory involving a cat, which seems like it may have been an impulsive eleventh-hour afterthought. [*spoiler*] There's also the rather sexist notion of males being free to live out an eternal consecution of full, productive lives, while females are limited to a brief, chaste existence which ostensibly repeats itself forever. Seems a bit unfair, though it does keep step with many real-world theologies.

All things considered, you may well find that this film has been rather unfairly dismissed. 6/10.

As one reviewer has said it's full of pretentious people. The film is just overly long and boring. It's trying to be a mysterious occult horror-thriller but it fails miserably to be what it wants to be . Such a shame, I was looking forward to watching a really good film on the occult and the topic of reincarnation. "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" seems to be the only really good movie on the subject of reincarnation.

Jack Creley really got on my nerves in this film for some reason. I was okay with the film and then he would show up an really irritate me. I can't place my finger on why though - mainly his voice kept bothering me and it should not have but it did. Why I'll never know.

2/10

Not bad but it's too talky and low key to generate enough thrills or work as a horror picture.

Told that he only has a few weeks left to live, a terminally ill lawyer searches for a host to receive his memories upon passing away - as per his belief in reincarnation - in this unusual Canadian drama. Although credited on IMDb as a horror film, 'The Reincarnate' is mostly a series of filmed conversations as the lawyer discusses his beliefs and tries to convince a young sculptor to take part in the ritual. The plus side of this is that Jack Creley is intriguing to listen to with his utter calmness about dying and philosophical quips; "there is another life if you remember this one". The minus of this is that the film's take on reincarnation is rather complicated and therefore there is far more talk than action as everything is explained to us. It is not a particularly moody or atmospheric film either and while there is one awesome sequence involving a stray cat crashing through a sky light, more moments like these could have really given the film an edge that it feels like it is missing. Overly complicated though the film's mythology may be, it is still undeniably fascinating and it is interesting throughout as it is hard to predict where exactly the film is going to go with all the reincarnation discussion. The film is topped off with a memorable final scene too, though it is a mystery why anyone thought it was a good idea to tack that cheesy song on as the end credits scroll.

As one character says, "This sounds pretty hokey to me," which is a good description of this overlong, overwrought, pretentious diatribe on reincarnation.

This might, I say, might, have made a middling episode of a TV series like 'Tales from the Darkside' or 'Tales from the Crypt' but as a film it's far too slow and dull. Nothing really happens until the final part of the film and before that it's just talk and more talk. Nothing wrong with that but it's static and too much time is taken with endless shots of the leads looking at each other and explaining the plot.

More a drama than an actual horror film but lacking any tension or suspense. You can see the end coming from the start and it's just a matter of waiting till it happens....eventually.

The style of acting reminds me of amateur dramatics at the local Church hall, very intense and earnest but quite boring for the audience.

This type of stuff has been done far better in other films with a reincarnation theme. This is one that I don't want to come back again to watch!

Plus it also has one of the worst closing credits song I have ever heard!