The Valley of Tears

I see a lot of movies that you can watch with one eye closed and you still don't have any trouble following what's going on. If I know where a movie is going right from the start, I can't watch it. I get bored too easy because the filmmakers didn't really make any effort to challenge me. Now, to be fair, most movies aren't smart enough to challenge the audience. They are content to give the people what they think we want, and no further than that. They don't have any respect for the intelligence of the viewer.

Not so with "The Valley of Tears." Here's a movie that sets up a bunch of stuff, and don't even bother to answer all the questions it proposes. Why? Because, it doesn't need to. We, as an audience, are left to figure things out for ourselves, or not to. It's our choice.

Let me start by saying that the only reason I din't give this movie a rating of 1 out of 10 is that I quite liked the music in certain places throughout the film.

It takes an exceptionally bad level of film making to make a 90 minute film drag this much. Plot: nonsensical, characterisation: non-existent, dialogue: pathetic, acting: classes needed. Of the four it's hard to say which is worst, they really are all THAT bad.

My first thought after I had finished watching the film was that this must have been written and directed by one person. Because if any director had seen a script like this (and hadn't been the person responsible for it) this film would never have been made. I understand that the man responsible, Peter Engert, has a film called House of Terror coming out this year which he also wrote and directed. Suffice to say I don't think it'll be in line for any Oscars.

If you're considering watching this film, think again and then watch something else. If one of your friends or relatives forces you to watch this film, get them one of those Rudolph jumpers for Christmas.

Most importantly though, if through some hideous set of circumstances you do end up watching it, makes sure that afterwards you start eating healthier and exercising. After all, you'll need some way to get back the 90 minutes of your life that were wasted watching it.

I have to say, I liked this movie. It is pretty interesting, and is those kind of movies that will keep you thinking about it, even hours after you've watched it. The plot does seem a bit blurry through out the movie, but as the ending approaches it becomes more clear, what is going on. It was small details that at first will pass by unnoticed that will let you later realize how much they were hinting what was coming.

I do have to admit that I wish they would've give more in the ending.. although I'm not sure yet how much more they would've been able to push it, because in one hand, it was a definitely explanation to everything that happened, but than it keeps you waiting for more. This movie is a must-see .. if you liked Donnie Darko or any other movie that is not to obvious and actually gives the viewer a chance to analyze the plot as to just making it too easy and obvious to the audience like most movies do now days. overall... thumbs up for this.

This movie makes sense, if you are intelligent enough to think about life and death. If your favorite movies are actions and horrors, don't rent it, because it won't satisfy you. You have to give time to this movie and I honestly understood it only days after I watched it, but then I got it all. I don't think young kids would get this movie and since I'm being one I just get it because I always watch movies that tell different versions about the unknown. The only reason I gave 9 to this film, because it was not perfect, it was not perfect, because it was missing the money that these stories would deserve, but it became an independent low-budget film. If this material had a studio behind and stars attached, it would've been a great success. Maybe a remake, one day! I hate when good projects get no recognition, just because it had no name in it, but at least it managed to reach people like us.

I was so disappointed in the movies you can find in blockbuster, because every other film is a low-budget junk, so I challenged myself with Netflix, and they offer a lot more movies that I thought they had. The Valley of Tears was the third I rented; I watched it with my husband, because the premise was very exciting. Few days earlier we just lost one of our friends in a car accident, so we didn't want to watch comedies, actions or horror, but something that would make us feel better after loosing a friend. The film offered something that I never seen in movies, which is: it offered lots of thoughts without actually telling you the whole story. This film gave us a lots of sense of how to manage and accept death. We loved the fact that the director, Peter Engert didn't trick you with a twisted, weird end, but respectfully let you be part of the film and you could finish it on your own, if you are connected to the material. We did and we loved it!