kevinosborne_99

II was surprised to see the mid star reviews for this film. Perhaps people don't understand grief and entrapment, which are the primary themes here. The townspeople are led around by events that began with an unspeakable toss of their reason for living. The desperate nature they demonstrate is a hopeless search for something to replace that pain. The subterranean performance of Sarah Polley dealing with a father who had already stripped her of her childhood, compounded by ar horrible injury, is understated and transcendent. This film is not easy to watch, but is a faithful portrait ot humanity in all its triumph and tragedy. However small the wins and great the losses.

Very well acted tale of making the devil take the hindmost. This could have been a topflight film for the genre if director/scriptwriter had shown more interest in keeping the pace up. As it is the highs, scenes with Gabriel and Lucifer and a trip into hell, are outstanding, vastly better than the best of an average horror movie. Tilda Swinton is tantalizing in her Gabriel role and leaves us wanting more. Reeves' laconic acting style fits the personality of the lead but doesn't add much. Definitely worth a couple hours especially if you like modern horror.

...then realized the script was not going to get any better, nor the direction. All the interactions are wrong, the dialogue trying too hard to show off characters instead of developing them. Overridden with so called hard/comic lines that fall completely flat. The music is 70's TV show genre and adds nothing. Action scenes are as bad as I've seen in a long time. Not worth a look IMO, obviously.