Shadow of God

I have very low expectations for possession films, as they always deal with the same formulaic garbage. Catholic priest, contortionists, double voices, black eyes, body markings, being tied up to the bed.... It's all so tired and worn out. Every time a new film in the sub genre comes out I have a small glimmer of hope that it might break the mold and do something different or even remotely unique and they all fail miserably, this one much worse than any in recent memory. It's so bad I didn't even want to finish it, but I did to write this honest review in hopes that no one else makes the same mistake I did in giving it a chance.

Nothing about this film is even slightly original, regardless of of how it might seem at first glance. It's the same formula, almost to the letter, and it's so stringent in following it that I wonder why people still continue to stick to such a tired and worn out convention for these films. It's almost like people make these movies and have a check list of all the "possession film" prerequisites that must be met, but when will someone say "ENOUGH!" And focus on one of the countless other religions and rites of exorcism found in the world? Catholicism is not the only religion that believes in demons, you know.

The acting is serviceable and actually pretty apt for the most part, except for the end with the overweight bald cult member that was absolutely atrocious in his method and ruined the decent track record the movie had. Whoever hired him failed in casting him and I hope they l learn their lesson for future films.

It's so frustrating to spend any amount of time watching a movie that gets worse as the movie progresses. Nothing about this movie was scary or even creepy, it was just stuff done by much better movies made by much more talented people. If it weren't for the acting, this movie would have been a certifiable failure in all respects, but I have to give props where it's due, and the cast did the best it could with the bird cage lining that was that script.

Don't watch this movie. It wasn't good, it wasn't any different from the countless other movies of its ilk and it really wasn't that entertaining. What it does is test your patience, make you check your watch, and pause the film to see how much is left of it every 10 minutes. I cannot recommend this movie for any reason, and I implore all of you to do anything else with your time than watch it.

A checklist of familiar tropes abound in this derivative exorcism horror which is weird as one of my 'go to' horror/fantasy movie websites -Culture Crypt gave this 85%.

Not sure if the reviewer was bribed or had a concussion since the cliches presented here are what he would usually rally against.

The deep hellish voice of the demon at the beginning is used countless times, add holy water, a troubled priest with a dark past, satanic cults. It's all just rehashed from other horrors.

It fact it's so forgettable I'm having difficulty remembering it now for this review.

Only the chilly,atmosphere of the Canadian wilderness left an impression on me.

Time for an exorcism rethink!

When I sat down to watch the 2025 horror movie "Shadow of God", I initially just thought that this was another run-of-the-mill exorcism movie, as I had not heard about it, so I didn't know what I was in for. But with it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch it, given my love of all things horror.

Writer Tim Cairo put together a fair enough script, which made for a watchable movie. But it was hardly an outstanding movie in terms of exorcism movies go. It was not a particularly scary or disturbing storyline, which ultimately made the movie have less of an impact on the viewer. The movie sort of loses its momentum and settles into a monotonous hum, from which it never recovers.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with Josh Cruddas. And the fact that it was all unfamiliar and new talents to me, was actually something that spoken in favor of the movie, as I enjoy watching new talents on the screen. The acting performances in "Shadow of God" were fair.

Visually then the movie was okay. I liked the cinematography throughout the course of the movie, as there were some nice visuals, angles and interesting shots.

My rating of director Michael Peterson's 2025 movie "Shadow of God" lands on a four out of ten stars.

If you like Raiders of the Lost Ark, you're gonna love this movie. When the Ark, I mean sarcophagus, scene arrives and the light starts emanating from it, imagine John Williams' score from Raiders playing in your head. It'll be the only joy you'll experience from this looney tunes of a movie.

If next week you come across this movie, don't be surprised if you start watching it again because you couldn't remember you saw it a week ago. It's that memorable.

Also, for most of the movie after about the 1/2 hour mark, imagine you're watching a Monty Python episode. The movie will make waaaaay better sense.

There are many harsh reviews on here, so I felt compelled to write one of my own.

Yes, the special effects aren't great for 2025, it's a pretty low budget film. But they didn't ruin the film for me personally.

I enjoyed it, the plot is a nice twist on standard possession films, a subgenre I like. It's much better than many shudder films I've seen. The acting is pretty decent, the characters are believable and there aren't too many times that the plot doesn't make sense, despite what other reviews say.

Probably worth a 6/10 really, but I added a star to balance out the crazy 2/10 ratings. Worth a watch!