This film could have been so much better, and it starts off with an interesting premise and some very scary moments, but quickly goes downhill as it becomes way too talky and forecloses on its promise to deliver some real chills. The best moment comes early on in the film (and much later towards the end), introducing the character of garden obsessed older woman who is rude to local children and her loyal black maid, wrongfully accusing her of stealing. Of course this old lady has a secret of her own (love of drink), so she's quite hypocritical in her judgment of others. When she finds herself alone late one night, she feels something weird going on in her garden and ventures out only to face her final curtain. It's a truly scary moment, and I hoped that it would lead to other similar scenes of hypocritical critical characters getting their comeuppance for using their alleged reverence towards God as an excuse to criticize others for their Christian shortcomings. One of those men is an older Orson Welles lookalike, a pompous blowhard and bully, very similar to the Lionel Barrymore character from "It's a Wonderful Life".
Seeing someone pulled down to hell by hands coming up from the ground gave me shivers, and I'm glad I did not watch this one before I went to bed. The flames that surround the character return for others, and other than a few moments of some awesome gory retribution at the end, with the presence of the grim reaper (possibly the minister who appears in the opening moments) and a brimstone castle of damnation which Is followed by a unique twist. This had the potential of being quite unique and eerie, with "Dante's Inferno" references, but the slow middle sequence really is detrimental to the film overall. I wonder if this had some church involved with its message of hypocrisy, but that would havd to be a liberal church for sure. For the most part, the cast is pretty good and everyone plays their role sincerely without their tonguing cheek, seeming much more professional than the obvious budget would allow. The thrills outweigh the snores, but it's best to be wide awake when starting the film from scratch.
Seeing someone pulled down to hell by hands coming up from the ground gave me shivers, and I'm glad I did not watch this one before I went to bed. The flames that surround the character return for others, and other than a few moments of some awesome gory retribution at the end, with the presence of the grim reaper (possibly the minister who appears in the opening moments) and a brimstone castle of damnation which Is followed by a unique twist. This had the potential of being quite unique and eerie, with "Dante's Inferno" references, but the slow middle sequence really is detrimental to the film overall. I wonder if this had some church involved with its message of hypocrisy, but that would havd to be a liberal church for sure. For the most part, the cast is pretty good and everyone plays their role sincerely without their tonguing cheek, seeming much more professional than the obvious budget would allow. The thrills outweigh the snores, but it's best to be wide awake when starting the film from scratch.