I think that some of the other reviewers are being overly generous in their praise for this movie. The current rating from ALL users is much more accurate.
As others point out, this is an homage to the Hammer films of fifty years ago. Unfortunately, it is an homage only in the camera-work, wardrobe, settings, and subject matter. It is very disappointing to see the majority of the film shot in broad daylight, completely missing the beautiful lighting and cinematography that Hammer used to convey a sense of gloom and claustrophobia. I also think it would have been far more effective if shot in B&W, but then how would you show off Savini's FX?
The acting and dialogue are both quite bad. There's no single character who I found to be even minimally authentic or believable. Savini, as a weird Dracula-like religious figure, is waaay out ahead of everybody else in the bad acting department. Simply no contest. Fortunately, he's on-screen only for a short time. Unfortunately, nobody else is really much better than he is.
As for the plot...wait, what plot? This movie makes "Primer" look fairly simple. There are dream sequences (or "otherworldly" sequences, whichever you prefer) within dream sequences, and you never really know what the director's intentions are. The satirical elements are extremely heavy-handed, and the entire script strikes me as something that a high-schooler would write after he reads his first philosophy of religion book. You can tell because the script uses the word "ideology" instead of "religious belief" or "faith" or any of a number of more accurate and descriptive terms. In other words, the characters are implementing an "ideology" and not just hare-brained religious ideas. The whole thing just rings false.
Finally, let's get to the gore. There's lots of it, but it's really pretty poor. Savini has done much better work. I guess he was just distracted. As far as the need for the gore, there isn't any. The movie starts out as sort of an explanation of religious belief, then devolves into a gore-fest that's punctuated by weird ideas of what constitutes a myth.
All in all, a very poor showing and not worth your time. On top of everything else, it is BORING!
As others point out, this is an homage to the Hammer films of fifty years ago. Unfortunately, it is an homage only in the camera-work, wardrobe, settings, and subject matter. It is very disappointing to see the majority of the film shot in broad daylight, completely missing the beautiful lighting and cinematography that Hammer used to convey a sense of gloom and claustrophobia. I also think it would have been far more effective if shot in B&W, but then how would you show off Savini's FX?
The acting and dialogue are both quite bad. There's no single character who I found to be even minimally authentic or believable. Savini, as a weird Dracula-like religious figure, is waaay out ahead of everybody else in the bad acting department. Simply no contest. Fortunately, he's on-screen only for a short time. Unfortunately, nobody else is really much better than he is.
As for the plot...wait, what plot? This movie makes "Primer" look fairly simple. There are dream sequences (or "otherworldly" sequences, whichever you prefer) within dream sequences, and you never really know what the director's intentions are. The satirical elements are extremely heavy-handed, and the entire script strikes me as something that a high-schooler would write after he reads his first philosophy of religion book. You can tell because the script uses the word "ideology" instead of "religious belief" or "faith" or any of a number of more accurate and descriptive terms. In other words, the characters are implementing an "ideology" and not just hare-brained religious ideas. The whole thing just rings false.
Finally, let's get to the gore. There's lots of it, but it's really pretty poor. Savini has done much better work. I guess he was just distracted. As far as the need for the gore, there isn't any. The movie starts out as sort of an explanation of religious belief, then devolves into a gore-fest that's punctuated by weird ideas of what constitutes a myth.
All in all, a very poor showing and not worth your time. On top of everything else, it is BORING!