The Jonestown Haunting

The Wikipedia Article for The Jonestown Massacre is actually far creepier than this movie is. Do yourself a favor and read that instead of watching this. I did give it a few points for some of the historical accuracy that they tried to convey, but it's mostly a waste of time.

This film isn't very good, and it's not due to lack of trying. I can see everyone gave it a good shot, but it has no voice or reason to exist. Jim Jones actor did pretty good, the lead did alright. I think the script just wasn't ready and veered into way to much dialogue that felt straight up written and not natural, there's only so much the cast and crew could do with this material. They need to change their poster to something that actually reflects the film.

I find it so hard to believe this cost $1,000,000, you could make ten of these films for that price (which they should have done). This is the perfect case of "don't make a film just because you can, make a film because you have a hard-on for it!"

On the Eighteenth of November 1978 over nine hundred died in Jonestown, Guyana. A remote settlement created by cult leader Jim Jones and his followers. Some committed suicide, others were murdered. This film is centred on fictional survivor Sarah Logan. Ten years after the massacre she is still haunted by the events and is seeing a psychiatrist. When she decides to visit the site, hoping to confront her fears, he advises against it but she goes anyway. Intertwined with this we see flashbacks to events before the massacre including Sarah joining the group and later becoming concerned about how it is being run.

If you are looking for a scary film one might think the events at Jonestown would provide good subject matter... unfortunately this never manages to be scary. The flashback scenes showing events leading up to the massacre are interesting although our protagonist isn't there for the infamous mass-poisoning; she gets away during a shooting. Things start well enough but go off the rails later as it gives voice to conspiracy theories about the events. The acting isn't great but is good enough for a low budget film. At no point does it feel like we are in Guyana; the flora and fauna look and sound distinctly British... not surprising given that it was filmed in Wales. Overall I'd not recommend this to those looking for a horror film; it isn't too boring but I'd rather have watched a more factual reconstruction of the events than this fictionalised version.

I could see this as a film school final project, because it has everything that a film requires, but none of it works at the right time. The acting was a bit wooden, although the actor who portrayed Rev. Jim Jones was fairly good. There are no supernatural elements present, save for the inward journey that Sarah takes to make peace with herself and sense out of a horrible tragedy. The roadside preacher could be seen as a literary Virgil, guiding the viewer through the mindset that the People's Temple hope to encompass, but ultimately strayed from. The story was original, in a sense, but at the end, they jumped the shark.

This was definitely...a movie. Unfortunately, one you might remember for a while.