The Veil

First, before I get into the movie, can I please just say that if you only watch the first 15 minutes of a film and then turn it off (as one reviewer said they did), please don't write a review of it. Clearly, you can't give an informed opinion if you only watch a fraction of the film.

OK, The Veil is not a big budget, blood and gore, jump scare heavy sort of movie, so if that's what you're looking for then this one is probably not for you. This one is more of a tense, unnerving film with an indie feel to it that works for the story and lends it realism. Its dark atmosphere is unsettling and lasts from start to finish. Thomas Jane is perfect in his role, which is unlike any other I've seen him in. This one just worked on many levels. It has its flaws, but all in all, I found it entertaining and worth watching.

I am the biggest critic of horror films. If there's just one thing that doesn't seem right, I automatically dislike a film. I really liked this, though.

It has a unique story, one that hasn't been touched upon very often: scary cults. It has a good cast who all work well together. There's not too much crappy dialogue, like the ubiquitous "Die you f-ing b****!" that is found in a lot of movies. (I've never understood how someone, who is fighting for their life, could be thinking of screaming cuss words at an attacker, and I curse like a truck driver.) I'm not a huge fan of Jessica Alba but this role worked for her.

The scares were a success. I jumped a couple of times.

Overall I think it's a very good scary movie. Is it Oscar-worthy? No, but that's not why I watched it.

...But, when all was said and done, I just couldn't. Could it have been better? Yes. Was it as bad as others here have written? No. I think the reason people here have given it a bad review, is that it IS lacking in some respects, however, it's an interesting story, original in it's execution. It's filmed beautifully, for a horror film. My kudos to the Cinematographer, it looks amazing.

I think most people now a days want their ghost stories to have more 'jump scares' and less 'story' and THAT'S why it's getting bad reviews. If they were more familiar with Rod Serling, or had seen some of the Hammer Film movies, they'd appreciate this one more.

This movie takes the typical 'abandoned cabin in the woods' story to an entirely different area, tying into 'true events' and putting a solid twist ending to good use.

I rated it a 7-10 because I think what this movie really needed was MORE Thomas Jane, and maybe some John Carpenter-esque sound tracks, but over all I enjoyed this movie more than I expected it to.

The premise of cult suicide eerily resembles real life tragedy, perhaps it is such intended effect. A cult leader Jim Jacobs (Thomas Jane) allegedly leads his congregation to their deaths in a promise of unworldly reward. In a pleasant surprise Thomas Jane is bizarrely fitting cast for the charismatic leader. He's been delivering good characters in last few years and he seems to get better each time.

After the events of mass suicide, a sole survivor is found, Sarah Hope (Lily Rabe). It takes her 25 years but she eventually returns to the site with a film crew. The Veil already produces anticipation more than the usual documentary crew fumbling into uncharted territory.

Its premise and ambiance are presentable, often using grey tone and cryptic air to its advantage. Although it uses found footage element, it doesn't force the gimmick for the entirety of the movie, thus it could show the past and present sequences freely.

Most of the horrors are based on foundation of Jim Jacobs' cult, which effectively produces a creepy setting. Furthermore, Thomas Jane as the prophet role has a way to allure interest as well as secretively shows some hints of violence. He's magnetic but still a shady person. The dark forest gives a proper visual for the ordeal, maintaining the sense of isolation well.

Unfortunately, few of the potentials for the scare end up in predictable fashion or blunt jump scares. Aside from Sarah Hope and the lead director Maggie (Jessica Alba), the rest of cast are not fully fleshed out. Still, the mystery effect and the appropriately crafted presentation manage to construct overall frightening atmosphere.

The Veil rallies and promises a great horror from its harrowing cultist vibe. It stutters a bit towards the end, contrasting the good basis it has set, yet the narrative and atmosphere still create gratifyingly creepy experience.

A lot of people think this is basedon the Jim Jones famous cult massacre but its actually based on the Hale Bop comet cult and its actually a true cult who poisoned each other with an apple pie special over 3 days as they believed aliens were coming to transport them to another world - how some people can fall for these cults is beyond me but it makes for fascinating viewing.

Thomas Jane was utterly superb and worth renting just to watch his scenes and reminds me of David Koresh another cult nutjob. Jessica Alba was just a bit of fluff on a stick and could have been substituted with any actress! I quite like cult type movies and there haven't been many lately!

It is a bit slow but there are some real jump scares - I messed ma pontaloons on at least 3 occasions so its not without its scares.

Overall though its pretty standard fair but worth a watch if you are a horror fan!