Classic example of a film that had potential but which also had a producer who failed to see the importance of an actual story-line. (Which made any sense)
The story follows a family being lured to a village on the pretense of the father (a pastor) taking a job at the village church. The villagers have an ulterior motive. One of the family members is selected to be possessed by the devil, in a pagan type "wickerman" village ritual. The devil (occupying the body of possessed family member) is then left about its business to kill all but one of the family members. The remaining one is used in a further ritual to banish the devil back to wherever it came from.
The next family is lured to the village to continue the cycle.
All this is fine and dandy. But there is no explanation of crucial background details / any details to make sense of the plot?
Why the devil is given a sacrifice from a family to possess for just long enough to kill part of that family, before being unhappily banished again?
What happens if the cycle doesn't take place?
What is the criteria of the ritual which needs to be fulfilled? One dead, two dead? Once a year?
Maybe Just don't bother and see what happens??
Also things happen throughout the film which seem irrelevant or unexplained;
At one point the father within the doomed family is rendered unconscious with chloroform over his face and locked in a church. Why did that happen? Did they intend to save him from the devil?
At one point the other pastor of the village coughs up black blood when the possessed member (devil) is injured - I hoped this would lead to a twist in the plot which explained that he was manufacturing the whole need for this ritual due to an evil pseudo identity- but nothing more came of it.
At one point there is red crosses painted on the doors and at others scenes of sheep having their blood drained into buckets- can we assume one is connected to ther other. Can we assume the red Sheep blood crosses keeps the devil out? (Why?)
Assuming things is the theme of this movie.
all in all it's always enjoyable watching scenes of possessed people killing their family members. Even if completely random with no explanation for why it is necessary is ever given.
On a side note Can't help but notice striking resemblance between "the devil" and the grumpy girl from the well in "the ring"
:)
The story follows a family being lured to a village on the pretense of the father (a pastor) taking a job at the village church. The villagers have an ulterior motive. One of the family members is selected to be possessed by the devil, in a pagan type "wickerman" village ritual. The devil (occupying the body of possessed family member) is then left about its business to kill all but one of the family members. The remaining one is used in a further ritual to banish the devil back to wherever it came from.
The next family is lured to the village to continue the cycle.
All this is fine and dandy. But there is no explanation of crucial background details / any details to make sense of the plot?
Why the devil is given a sacrifice from a family to possess for just long enough to kill part of that family, before being unhappily banished again?
What happens if the cycle doesn't take place?
What is the criteria of the ritual which needs to be fulfilled? One dead, two dead? Once a year?
Maybe Just don't bother and see what happens??
Also things happen throughout the film which seem irrelevant or unexplained;
At one point the father within the doomed family is rendered unconscious with chloroform over his face and locked in a church. Why did that happen? Did they intend to save him from the devil?
At one point the other pastor of the village coughs up black blood when the possessed member (devil) is injured - I hoped this would lead to a twist in the plot which explained that he was manufacturing the whole need for this ritual due to an evil pseudo identity- but nothing more came of it.
At one point there is red crosses painted on the doors and at others scenes of sheep having their blood drained into buckets- can we assume one is connected to ther other. Can we assume the red Sheep blood crosses keeps the devil out? (Why?)
Assuming things is the theme of this movie.
all in all it's always enjoyable watching scenes of possessed people killing their family members. Even if completely random with no explanation for why it is necessary is ever given.
On a side note Can't help but notice striking resemblance between "the devil" and the grumpy girl from the well in "the ring"
:)