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Criminally underrated - one of the great horror movies of all time (IMHO)
posted by DRDMovieMusingsSTAFFMOD on April 1, 2017 at 2:37 PM
It starts with the cliché "idiot teens on vacation" but quickly escalates into a delicious tale of heartbreak, loss, witchcraft and the price to pay for vengeance.
And here, finally, is a beastie thing with a purpose; with personality; with a finite mission to complete; and once complete, it returns from whence it came, so there's no random, wanton pointlessness to the carnage.
The dialogs between the witch and our tragic protagonist is the stuff of cinematic legend.
Special effects are also splendid. It's not all suspenseful psychological horror - gruesome kills happen. But, artfully. And the settings and screenplay are sumptuous - some truly unforgettable images.
Visuals, supernatural elements with some rationality to them, some campy gore too and, above all, story - this movie's got it all.
[edited 2023.01.31]
Reply by SueDNim
on April 5, 2017 at 11:30 PM
Well said.
I can't elucidate all the ways in which I agree with you - all those little moments - without filling this post with spoilers.
This isn't just a good "monster movie". It's heartbreaking. It will stay with you and haunt you. At least, it did me.
I will just add that on a repeat viewing I spotted with delight the line, spoken by Henriksen's character when he's trying to save the kids, "Do you want to live?" That's got to be an homage to The Terminator, which he was also in.