Writer: Jonathan W.C. Mills (Screenplay)
Starring: Anne Heche, James Tupper, Ethan Peck, Rebekah Brandes, Carter Cabassa, Wayne Pere, Jennifer Stone, Clancy Brown
Plot: A family’s journey toward a better life is interrupted by an unstable man of the cloth.
Verdict: Improves as it goes
Story: We see a family move to a small town that all seems very much together and united as a community. We get the sense something is going on but we are not sure what. We get led towards what seems like an obvious answer but never completely sure how things will unfold.
I came into this only knowing what the sort plot said about the film, this helped me enjoy this a little bit more. What keeps us guessing for a little while and as we can guess the basic idea we are only left to guess what the overall plan is. We do have to go through a long build up to see what the final idea is but most importantly we don’t get to see any true ideas of the final outcome until it happens. It does a good job mixing up a couple of subgenres of horror and it doesn’t hold back on shock value on who dies. It isn’t the most original but the final act all comes off very well, shame about the start being too slow. (6/10)
Actor Review
Anne Heche: Wendy wife of the incoming pastor who spends all her time tidying, cooking, cleaning and being a basic mother. Not sure why Anne did this film she has a better reputation that playing the mom in a film doing nothing but house work. (3/10)
James Tupper: Dan the new pastor in the town who has bought his family half way across America to join the community, he is looking forward to the new chance. Doesn’t really get any real scene time and when he does his character makes bad decisions. (3/10)
Ethan Peck: Noah local boy who takes a shine to the daughter Rebecca, he has plenty of mystery about him, but is he trying to be good or bad. Ok performance with his local boy persona. (4/10)
Rebekah Brandes: Rebecca oldest sister of the family who I am not sure how she is meant to be, which doesn’t help us judge her decisions. She befriends a local boy and ends up having to fight to survive. She does a good job with the performance but the character makes you want to scream ‘listen’ (6/10)
Clancy Brown: Pastor Kingsman the pastor who is retiring or so he says but he has much more sinister motives for bring the new family to town. Good performance from Clancy who has mystery about nearly all his scenes. (7/10)
Support Cast: Be it the rest of the family who have to go through some suffering or over towns people the support cast all adds a little bit to the story without stealing any of the scenes.
Director Review: Anthony Leonardi III – I liked what the directed did with the final third of the film, but I felt like the beginning part of the film seemed slow and forced. (6/10)
Horror: We have a few jump scares but nothing much during the start, but once we find out what is happening it gets very interesting. (7/10)
Settings: Nice quite town creates parts of isolation to create the area where such an event could have happened. (9/10)
Special Effects: Good special effects used to create some of the kills. (8/10)
Suggestion: I think horror fans could give this a try and might enjoy it, personally it involves a mix of two types of horror that don’t appeal to me greatly but it like you satanic or possession based films you will enjoy this. (Try It)
Best Part: Final third
Worst Part: First two thirds
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Left open, but unlikely
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $3 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Tagline: Let us pray
Overall: Cross Genre Horror, That Takes too Long to Get Going
Rating