The Offering

This isn't terrible but it's a bit like a columbo movie. The opening scene shows you what's going on and takes away all the mystery and intrigue.

I thought that was interesting and I wondered where they were going to go with it. I didn't wonder very long.

Predictable jump scares, very little suspense and an all too tropey characters including a personal bug-bear of mine; that one guy who just knows exactly what's going on and can expertly explain it all, in detail to our protagonist.

I like two things about this movie. Almost the whole movie is inside the house which gives the movie what little atmosphere there is, and I like the ending. Not the climax, not the third act, just the very end. That's about all though.

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!

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.

The plot was not properly explained, the backstory was not clear either. It's like watching a snippet of the end of a different movie, it just started and then it ended. I don't know what happened or why it happened. But that doesn't mean I didn't watch it til end. The horror was good it had the potential to be scary. Not a fan of jump-scares though, and this one had far too many. The concept itself I think was unique, but showing the demon as a scary monster in a well lit room did not make it as scary as it could've been. Regardless, it was a nice watch 5.2 is a little lower, it was not that bad.

"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.