Temple

I watched this film at the recommendation of a friend. They warned me going in that isn't wasn't great, but it had B Horror charm to it. After sitting through this film, I have to disagree with my friend. There isn't a great deal of charm in this film at really, what here is, a thinly written script, incredibly thin characters, and a story that ultimate doesn't really lead anywhere satisfying or otherwise. The movie is about three American tourists visiting the Buddhist temples of Japan. The one they choose to visit is apparently haunted after several children went missing there and a monk was murdered decades before. Sounds like a pretty standard ghost story, but this film opts not to go that route, which ends up being to its detriment. The film doesn't seem to have a clear idea of the story it's trying to tell. The film is only seventy-eight minutes long and spend half of that time doing build **** it really builds to ANYTHING. You get to meet this poorly developed characters, learn of the love triangle that's shoehorned in here, hear them recite blade dialogue, and you get to do this for the first forty-five minutes of the film. Things don't really kick off till the last half hour, but by then you probably won't really care. The atmosphere is never really set, the threat is left rather unclear- which is partially due to how damn dark this film is. Then there's this subplot about how the events your witnessing are being narrated by a man trapped in a literal plastic bag in a "sort-of-hospital" who seems to have suffered severe physical damage to his face, while being interviewed by what I assumed where cops. Then film then ends abruptly with little to know questions answered, which ultimately leaves the film shrouded in ambiguity and with a greatly unfinished feel; it's like only 2/3 of a full movie was shot. I'm not sure what story the writer and/or director were trying to tell, but it's clear they had a rather vague idea that they never bothered to fully flesh out on paper. There are some parts of the film that are well shot, but there are no parts featuring engaging character moments or dialogue, and almost no scares or thrills. All we're left with is an idea of a story that never picks up any momentum and ends up nowhere. Take my advice, give this film a hard pass and watch The Ritual on Netflix.

When I think of all the stupid decisions that the characters make and all the ridiculous scenarios that they get themselves into, it leaves one with ZERO sympathy for any of the "victims" in this film! Combine that with a plot that builds up to a whole lot of NOTHING, and it's no surprise that this film has received miserable reviews!