Opiniones de usuarios

It's slow paced, most scenes don't get together but there are good shots and I like the overall idea of it. With changes it could be a good movie.

Given my love of all things horror, and the fact that I've never seen or even heard about the 1984 movie "The Jar", from writer George Bradley and director Bruce Toscano, of course I had to check it out, as I stumbled upon it here in 2025 by random chance. I had zero expectations to the movie, as I virtually didn't know anything about the movie, so I suppose director Bruce Toscano had every opportunity to entertain me.

But talk about a swing and a miss of a movie. This movie was insanely disjointed and felt mostly like a haphazard collection of randomly shot scenes that director Bruce Toscano had to piece together to make something resembling a cohesive storyline. I have to say that the random scenes of Paul milling aimlessly about or trying to put on a performance of himself losing his mind, just failed to entertain me. And I found it quite a struggle to sit through the ordeal that is "The Jar".

Of course I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. The acting performances were semi-adequate, but the dialogue was cringeworthy.

The movie was not my cup of tea. And it is not a movie that I would recommend horror fans to rush out and track down. It just simply wasn't worth the effort.

My rating of "The Jar" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

I am a HUGE fan of B-Movies so when I rented this I was looking for a cheesy no budget movie, hopefully about a killer jar or some crazy liquid in a jar that killed like the blob, that is how the cover looked. This is a boring, boring movie, and the acting does not help at all. The acting is bad, the picture quality is bad, the special effects are bad, this normally adds to a good movie but this was horrible. I can not really even tell you what this movie was about because it was so weird...I have seen other movies where a man goes slowly insane, which I guess is what this was about, but those movies were done well and this was...welll...not. Do not see this for the bad quality of the film, do not see this for any reason, unless you really want to torture yourself. That is all I have to say for THE JAR.

The plot involves a hairy guy named Paul who picks up a creepy old man who was injured in a car accident. The old man insists on taking along this jar wrapped in a bag. Paul takes the old man back to his (Paul's) apartment, the old man vanishes and Paul is left with this jar, which contains this little blue monster that looks like one of the Ghoulies. After that, things get weird as Paul hallucinates and/or dreams all this stuff.

I suppose there could be some symbolism in the film, but we know nothing about Paul before the dreams start, and the dreams seem to have no connection to anything that is happening. My theory is that the director or writer or whoever it was that decided to make this movie took all the weird dreams he had had in his life and rolled them into this painful film. None of the dreams are memorable enough to require a visual translation, though, so they're quite boring to watch. This begs the question of why he decided to do it.

This movie has the feel of a really bad student film. Someone attempting to make an "arty" movie.

Another interesting thing about this film is that it was made in Colorado, but appears to be badly dubbed. All the characters have these dull, out-of-place voices that don't seem to match their faces. It reminds me of B-Movies from the '60s like "Manos: The Hands of Fate" and "The Beast of Yucca Flats" that were either recorded without sound or had the sound erased, and then tried to put sound back in in post-production.

I think this is a bad movie, but I'm no expert. There could be some deep meaning to this film that I don't get. Give it a rent and see for yourself.

"The Jar" is a movie sent from the Heavens---not as a gift---but as a means of testing our humanity and the fabric of our very existences. The word "awful" does not even glance the surface of the ocean of atrocity that is this movie. Often a mediocre production can suffer from a lackluster plot but contain redemption in the form of quality acting, pleasing special effects, a great score, or any combination of the aforementioned. Unfortunately, "The Jar" offers no such redemption. As one watches the film, each passing moment exceeds the viewer's expectation of how irrevocably bad a movie can be; his or her notion of what makes a "terrible film" is completely shattered with every stroke of the second hand. The plot: absolute nonsense with no explanation in sight. The music: subtly pleasing---if you enjoy the sound of an orchestra committing suicide using its own instruments. The acting: sometimes rigid, other times absurdly dramatic, at all times unforgivable. The appearance: completely grainy and dark (not in a mood-setting way, but in a "the camera man is totally incompetent" way) with the actors often way out of frame. The total package: incoherent, psychotic, UNWATCHABLE. The only reason a person should ever view "The Jar" is to gain an understanding of what makes a a movie "good"---which translates to exactly the opposite of everything demonstrated in this picture.

It's true. This flick isn't as bad as some of the reviews suggest as long as you have something else to do during the lulls. Needless to say there are plenty of lulls. I recalled watching this movie back about 16 years ago and was not impressed with it at all at that time. My first impression after all these years is that this was a student film someone managed to sell to a studio. The film is extremely low budget and not terribly exciting. However there are some decently freaky dream sequences that you might find worth watching if you like low budget horror flicks (like me) and the whole thought of this old man leaving a pickled punk in a dudes apartment where it takes over the man mind is at the least creepy. I suggest watching this movie while cleaning the house or surfing the net.... Every 20 minutes or so when something interesting happens you can stop what you're doing and watch for a minute or two.

If you were able to sit through movies like... Drive In Massacre Ghost Riders Garden Of The Dead The Cremators You wont have a problem opening The Jar.

I must say I'm a glutton for punishment. I rented "The Jar" simply because I knew nothing about it and it cost a mere ninety-nine cents. The sad fact of the matter is I should have checked imdb.com first. Perhaps had I done this, I could have saved myself the agony. Scratch that...I'll rent almost anything for a dollar without first considering that I'm sacrificing precious time as well.

The film begins with a motorist picking up a bizarre old man after an accident. Instead of taking him to a hospital or to the police, he brings the crazed old coot to his apartment. The man soon disappears, leaving behind a jar containing a hideous demonic thing. It is not long before it begins to grate at the man's sanity, causing hallucinations, mood swings, paranoia, and depression. This ultimately endangers his job, the potential for romance with a new neighbor, and perhaps even his life.

"The Jar" is little more than a forum for a load of disjointed, barely related, surreal visions. The overall effect is to bore the viewer to tears. Decent acting? Continuity? Look elsewhere for these elements. They are absent from this film. Any reasonable person will grant that "The Jar" was hampered by a low budget. However, budget cannot be an excuse for a film this bad, certainly the worst I've seen in 2002.

... and those are probably the nicest adjectives I can think to describe this flick. One of the most boring movies I have ever seen. And believe me, I've seen some dull pictures in my time. NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, RENT THIS MOVIE. I can appreciate a bad horror film (heck, I even like some Troma movies), but trust me on this. I cannot imagine ANYONE, ANYWHERE finding this enjoyable. On a scale of 1-10, it's a one. Boy, I wish I could rate it lower.

It took me several viewings to get into it but it eventually grew on me. Tracking down and talking to the director, Bruce Toscano, helped too. It takes inspiration from Fellini and Argento and shows a mans descent into madness. The music works very well for the bizarre nature of the film. It is sad to know that the film was severely truncated by the distributor as well. Also the distributor cut away much of the picture to make it fit the TV and the correct version is lost. There is a lot of surreal imagery here. The acting leaves a bit to be desired but in a way, adds to the strangeness of the film. Hopefully somehow one day the film will pick up the cult audience it deserves and a DVD release with director's commentary will occur.

Many people seem to hate this movie... well, I love it! Caught occasionally on Telecapri (a regional, Italian TV station that used to show a lot of b-horrors 10 or 15 years ago), this strange film obsessed me for years, becoming a sort of legend: even talking to my friends, it looked like I was the only one who had seen "The Jar"! The strange images of this obscure flick had become part of my fantasy. Last year, I subscribed to an internet horror fans' forum and opened a post there, in which I described all the scenes of this movie, I had been recalling for years; there where other people in Italy who knew it! Obviously, they hated it too; but I finally got that film's title! I bought it on VHS on Amazon, despite the reviews found on this site. Yes, the dubbing was terrible (but it couldn't be worse than the usual Italian dubbing this sort of films get), the editing approximate and the story confusing; but all these elements, helped creating the odd atmosphere that this strange film surely has. Hallucinations, suspension between dream and reality, mystery, non-sense (I admit the candy store scene's a "WTF!?" candidate), isolation, terror and probably some inadvertent qualities too! I consider it as a bad dream: incoherent, maybe incomplete (according to another user's comment, "The Jar" was heavily cut for distribution's reasons), but fascinating and leaving my mind full of inspiration and weird memories. I still like it after all these years and I think it's not worse than many other B (or Z-grade) films that attempted to obtain a 'cult' position after years.

-Dario-

Easily the worst movie I've ever seen, do not even watch it as a joke, or to see how bad it can be, trust me, it's horrible. The acting, the "special effects", everything... I hope all copies are eventually destroyed.

The tag line is "The Jar - it blows the lid off of terror" I'd shorten it to just... "it blows."

I can't put this anymore clearly, this movie is atrocious, and not even in a "how can any movie be this bad? I've got to see it for myself and see what I'm missing." kind of way.

No, don't do that. piece of crap... walk away. awful.

I rented this movie for a little thing me and some friends do every other weekend called "B-Movie Night". Basically, the goal is to find the worst movie you can find and put it up against another person's find. This particular movie won me the title of "Survivor of the B-Movies". While I was looking for a bad movie I saw a movie with no cover art simply called "The Jar". So I grabbed it. This movie was so weird, so stupid, so badly acted, and so long that the choice was clear... I had found the worst B-Movie ever. The plot made no sense, the effects were crap, and the budget was hilariously low. I still cant believe I watched the damn thing. So, unless you plan on hosting your own "B-Movie Night" and totally blowing the lid off bad movies, please, don't waste your time with this movie... my friends and I have already done that for you.

• Josh

I saw the stupid movie. At first, I was just bored, but then this boredom just became anger. I'm tired now. It was one of the longest 80 minutes of my entire life, and, as much as I hate to use this word, it is the most pretentious movie that I've ever seen.

The symbolism is absolutely cringe worthy and it is the worst kind of an experimental film. And I love experimental filmmaking! "Eraserhead" is one of my top 20 favorite films of all time, and this movie feels like an attempt at making an experimental horror film just like that one, but, while "Eraserhead" has very interesting symbolism and ways to interpret it, as well as being interesting throughout, this just comes across as being UGH!!!!!!!!

Overall, this isn't the worst film I've ever seen, but that's just giving it too much credit.

boring/10

WOW! I had thought I wrote a review on this years ago, but I don't seem to see it. Which is surprising as this movie was watched in a club of other movie enthusiasts that try and outdo each other. I'm assuming you know that this movie won the Worst Movie competition. -handedly.

It is hard to say which was worse, the acting or the filming. The actors did try, but then again trying doesn't equate to doing.

The story is very lost and the plot seems like it is trying to escape getting pinned down.

The jar contents are barely even mentioned, just there. It keeps showing it, but does little to explain it. The acting does not help in trying to convey what is actually happening.

The actual plot makes less sense and seems impossible to leap from what we see to what we are supposed to see.

If you want to win a competition on showing the worst movie ever made, good luck finding a copy.

Hi,

It's Paul again. My original review was based on the worthless VHS version. TerrorVision got the original print from Bruce Toscano and restored the movie to the original aspect ratio and color and OMG it's not even close to what was on the VHS. I am truly happy to see Bruce's original vision brought to life.

First of all, the movie is not for everyone. It's not a linear story. A monster doesn't jump out of the jar and eat people's souls. Just go for the ride. I understand why some people don't like the movie. However, with the full restoration, the movie is so much better.

Anyway, the movie sold out two shows at The Music Box in Chicago and another full house at Scream Screen in Denver and not everyone in the audience enjoyed the movie but those who did really liked it. It's not a movie you 'get' it's a movie you just go with.

Check out the TerrorVision Blu-ray.

Gary Wallace Paul in The Jar.

I rented this back in the 1980's, and the bad taste still lingers. Not one redeeming quality. Not worth watching, even for the thrill of a "fun" bad movie.

Let's drop the subject right here...

Ths Jar, released in 1984, follows the day to day life of Paul as his life changes for the eerie after picking up a creepy old hitchiker. The old man vanishes but not before he leaves a mysterious object in a paper bag,hence-the jar. Paul then starts to experience strange illusions, one of which has his bath tub fill up with blood in which we get to witness some really cheap camera-trickish special effects. Paul then meets a new female neighbor, who seems to take an instant interest in dating him, despite the fact that she barely knows him and that he acts extremely quiet and creepy. This film is a complete mess from start to finish.There are so many meaningless points of this film-a part when we watch from the outside as Paul goes into a candy store and buys candy, we do not see him inside, but watch the door for 30 seconds.Its as though the filmmakers were just to lazy to get permission to shoot a scene inside.The female lead is a character that contributes absolutely nothing to this movie.All we know about her is that she has an attraction for schizophrenic single white males and bad movie roles(this movie). The acting is worse than "cue card reading" acting, the characters are shallow and out of place, the camera work is so much off its pathetic, and the special effects look like something out of a bargain bin.I do not recommend this film. This movie makes the countless slashers with masked killers look like masterpieces.