III: The Ritual

This one was close to a 6 stars on my behalf, but I decided to bring it down to 5, purely on the plot. Coming out with great potential, it feels like it achieved so little, wanting so more, promising the same, but delivering far less.

Perhaps it was a hat too big for the producers, the director, but they surely enough prepared for the movie. The effects, tho lovely, are rare and short, and I think they could have stayed for a little longer. The soundtrack is beyond believable, you'll have to check it out for yourself in order to believe so.

The story, is good, but the execution feels rushed, like they really wanted to get somewhere, and they decided to do it while holding their breath. Still it was an awesome experience, I do recommend this little gem, try something different, you won't be disappointed.

Cheers!

I must pinch myself, just to make sure I'm awake. *Pinch*. Talk about arrestingly hypnotic and abstract. And that's the contrasting imagery inside (dreams) and out (landscapes) of the subconscious. Watching "III" is like being caught in a trance. It's visually sublime captured by its elegant cinematography and otherworldly score, but frail storytelling does keep this grim, surrealistic Russian horror-fantasy from reaching great heights.

The style is in the same mould of such psychophysiology films ("The Cell" & "Horsehead") dealing with a journey into the subconscious mind. What transpires is rather sobering and haunting, but how the journey plays out is uniquely puzzling. The natural performances of Piling Davidova and Luibov Ignatushko do share a touching bond as the two sisters caught up in a sickness infecting their small village.

Just got darker and darker. It might be difficult to find the movie under this title anywhere (the Germans just added a sub-title to it to make it easier), but if you find it, you might like its gritty, down and dirty style. The acting and the setup itself is pretty interesting, letting you in the dark for a long time, having to figure out what is going on and what's real and not.

Spiritual and different, this will either be a tease that tastes like something you like or will appall you. It won't be for the masses (obviously), but I do think that those who "get it" (even if it's repeated viewing that takes them there), will love it with all their heart

Two sisters, who have just lost their mother to an illness that has plagued their village, only have each other to lean on. When one of them becomes gravely ill and the villagers decide that those who are sick must be quarantined, the other turns to their priest for a place to hide. While caring for her sister, she comes across a strange book in the priest's home and learns there is a ritual that may help save her sister. She approaches the priest, who agrees to help, and they begin the ritual in which the healthy sister must enter her ill sister's subconscious. There she must find her sister's biggest fear and eliminate it to break the grip of the illness. The illness has taken over and made the ill sister's subconscious a dangerous and horrific place but the healthy sister is willing to brave it to save her sister. Will it work? This is your plot.

Let's start with the good things about this film. It is a visually appealing film. Some of the scenery is beautifully portrayed with nice reddish hues. Even the horror aspects of the film have been nicely done. The acting is quite well too and the story, while not a new idea, has a few changes from the norm. There's a twist.

The bad things. The pace is really slow but it does draw you into it. There's not a lot of character development and that takes away from your ability to become invested in the characters. The story needed some work. By that I mean not everything was explained to my liking and there were some situations that were sorta vital that lacked detail.

My take away from this is that it isn't an awful film. It had some problems but it held my interest. I'd like to give it 6.5 stars but we don't have that option here so I rounded up to a 7. I'm glad I checked it out.

I came across this film with very little info beforehand, not even having watched the trailer. There is so much to love about this movie, I don't even know where to begin. The creators are obvious fans of the work of Yamaoka Akira (who did the soundtracks to Silent Hill), the franchise itself, Fatal Frame and the work of director Tarsem. One of the most visually stunning films I have seen all year, III combines art-house aesthetics with stylized horror to great effect. Anyone who has played Silent hill will automatically see the inspiration, as the creature and effects designs would be right at home in the game. The story of one sister attempting to save the other echoes that of Fatal Frame, withe similar eerie undertones. Lastly, having the girl enter her sisters subconscious takes me back to Tarsem's The Cell, also a visually stunning film. The topping on an already delicious cake is the incredible soundtrack; Yamaoka-san himself would be proud to hear music that is clearly inspired by his work, and it flowed so beautifully with the visuals of the film, that it was an almost flawless culmination. Aside from some gaps in the storytelling, and a bit if confusion towards the end, there really hasn't been a movie like this is a very long time. If you love art-house films that are actually interesting to watch, I highly recommend III. Fans of Silent Hill, this is a no brainer.