The Shrine is one of very few horror films that I really regret watching. Keep in mind that this is my first review and I decided to write it just to keep all of you people from making the same mistake I did. Here we go.
I'm from Poland so when I first read the plot summary, I was kind of hoping I'll be able to feel the atmosphere of my home country with a little scary twist to it. And I was highly disappointed. The atmosphere was non-existent and the location on which the movie was set wasn't even anywhere near Poland. All of it was just a lie and a big mistake. Same thing with the actors. When you insist on making a movie about foreigners, the least you can do is make sure that your actors speak the language properly and not screw up the accent. Fail. I speak mandarin better than most of those 'polish people' from the movie speak polish.
Now, before I get to the plot, let me just say that I totally understand that The Exorcist was a classic and an amazing movie, and that it felt so real watching it that you automatically fall in love with stories about demonic possession. But that doesn't mean you can just steal or copy major scenes and ideas from the movie, because - let's face it: it's obvious that it just won't work.
So the whole story seemed to be written by someone who was half asleep and having some wild dreams. We see a Hollywood beauty with a journalist license, who obviously isn't the big thing in her company anymore and barely manages to keep her job. Somehow, out of nowhere, she finds this God-forsaken story about some people going missing in Europe. So she grabs her co-worker and her boyfriend and decides to go on an excellent adventure. It obviously goes wrong. I mean, it's a horror movie, what could one possibly expect?
First of all, for some reason the writers decided to add a bit more depth to the plot by sticking some completely pointless ideas in random places in the storyline, like haunting the poor journalist or adding an innocent little girl that was supposed to lead the three main characters into an ambush. They also apparently felt that the basic, well-known ritual of an exorcism was too boring and overrated, so they changed it and made it weird and barbaric without even giving a single hint about the point of doing it or the difference it was supposed to make. We also have no idea why the people in the village are so afraid and unfriendly to the foreigners, when their place of origin has nothing to do with the actual issue.
Let's get to the acting and characters. None of the characters in the movie has anything about them that's not skin deep. They have no personality, no past, they're just puppets doing what they're told and the rest of their lives just doesn't matter. And the actors aren't even trying to make it seem like there's more to it. In the end of the day we have a group of people running around and doing stuff, and that's it. The worst thing is that the writers fell asleep again before they bothered to explain any of the characters' motivations. So again, we still have no idea about anything at all.
Technical stuff. The special effects are quite bad, especially when it comes to gore, and the fog in the forest looks like it's just a blurry white-ish background for a yearbook picture. The music might as well be Avril Lavigne as it doesn't create any mood at all. The camera work is just typical for a horror movie, with a lot of close-up shots and the habit of making you stare at a character's feet or back as they walk down a path in the forest. Nothing new. And certainly nothing exciting.
Overall feeling? Well, it was kind of funny. And we all know horror movies aren't supposed to be funny.
I'm from Poland so when I first read the plot summary, I was kind of hoping I'll be able to feel the atmosphere of my home country with a little scary twist to it. And I was highly disappointed. The atmosphere was non-existent and the location on which the movie was set wasn't even anywhere near Poland. All of it was just a lie and a big mistake. Same thing with the actors. When you insist on making a movie about foreigners, the least you can do is make sure that your actors speak the language properly and not screw up the accent. Fail. I speak mandarin better than most of those 'polish people' from the movie speak polish.
Now, before I get to the plot, let me just say that I totally understand that The Exorcist was a classic and an amazing movie, and that it felt so real watching it that you automatically fall in love with stories about demonic possession. But that doesn't mean you can just steal or copy major scenes and ideas from the movie, because - let's face it: it's obvious that it just won't work.
So the whole story seemed to be written by someone who was half asleep and having some wild dreams. We see a Hollywood beauty with a journalist license, who obviously isn't the big thing in her company anymore and barely manages to keep her job. Somehow, out of nowhere, she finds this God-forsaken story about some people going missing in Europe. So she grabs her co-worker and her boyfriend and decides to go on an excellent adventure. It obviously goes wrong. I mean, it's a horror movie, what could one possibly expect?
First of all, for some reason the writers decided to add a bit more depth to the plot by sticking some completely pointless ideas in random places in the storyline, like haunting the poor journalist or adding an innocent little girl that was supposed to lead the three main characters into an ambush. They also apparently felt that the basic, well-known ritual of an exorcism was too boring and overrated, so they changed it and made it weird and barbaric without even giving a single hint about the point of doing it or the difference it was supposed to make. We also have no idea why the people in the village are so afraid and unfriendly to the foreigners, when their place of origin has nothing to do with the actual issue.
Let's get to the acting and characters. None of the characters in the movie has anything about them that's not skin deep. They have no personality, no past, they're just puppets doing what they're told and the rest of their lives just doesn't matter. And the actors aren't even trying to make it seem like there's more to it. In the end of the day we have a group of people running around and doing stuff, and that's it. The worst thing is that the writers fell asleep again before they bothered to explain any of the characters' motivations. So again, we still have no idea about anything at all.
Technical stuff. The special effects are quite bad, especially when it comes to gore, and the fog in the forest looks like it's just a blurry white-ish background for a yearbook picture. The music might as well be Avril Lavigne as it doesn't create any mood at all. The camera work is just typical for a horror movie, with a lot of close-up shots and the habit of making you stare at a character's feet or back as they walk down a path in the forest. Nothing new. And certainly nothing exciting.
Overall feeling? Well, it was kind of funny. And we all know horror movies aren't supposed to be funny.