I wasn't expecting much when I sat down to watch "The Shrine". The premise looked all too familiar in a sea of excruciatingly bad horror titles. The opening scenes did little to quash my suspicions, however, I decided to stick it out and go for broke. I'm actually really glad I did.
There is very little contrived material here. The film sets up it's story and moves forward convincingly. While some of the dialog tends to border on silliness, a rather strong cast is able to deliver it in a believable fashion, which, along with the top notch cinematography, sets "The Shrine" apart from it's contemporaries. Yes, the Polish accents were brutal, as were the ceremonial robes, however the suspenseful scene direction more then makes up for it. It's one of those films, where as, you don't really care all that much about the characters, but you really dig what the film is doing with them. It's easy entertainment, and sometimes that's all it takes.
No, this is not a film that is destined for cult status or a franchise tag, but it is an enjoyable little horror film that reminds us of why we love this genre Because it's fun.
There is very little contrived material here. The film sets up it's story and moves forward convincingly. While some of the dialog tends to border on silliness, a rather strong cast is able to deliver it in a believable fashion, which, along with the top notch cinematography, sets "The Shrine" apart from it's contemporaries. Yes, the Polish accents were brutal, as were the ceremonial robes, however the suspenseful scene direction more then makes up for it. It's one of those films, where as, you don't really care all that much about the characters, but you really dig what the film is doing with them. It's easy entertainment, and sometimes that's all it takes.
No, this is not a film that is destined for cult status or a franchise tag, but it is an enjoyable little horror film that reminds us of why we love this genre Because it's fun.