God of Pain

Sometimes you see a movie so bad that you wonder who actually thought it would be a good idea to make.

Ordinarily, I just ignore those. But sometimes you happen to look one of those movies on IMDB, and see that it has more fake positive reviews than any other movie you've ever seen. And then it inspires me to want to leave an honest review. That's this one.

Wooden acting, the cheapest possible production values, a "plot" (barely) that seems like it was written by a 12-year-old, this film is missing virtually everything that might make a film worth watching.

If only they'd spent money on actors, writing, and production instead of on fake IMDB reviews, this movie might have been only bad and not totally, offensively bad. And I wouldn't have felt a civic duty to point out just how fake so many of these reviews are.

"Algea: God of Pain" plunges viewers into the depths of Greek mythology, unraveling the haunting narrative of Algea, the deity of suffering. Through stunning visuals and a captivating storyline, the film explores the intricate relationship between gods and mortals, delving into the profound themes of agony and redemption. While pacing may falter at times, the film's thematic depth and compelling performances keep audiences engaged. It's a thought-provoking cinematic journey that lingers in the mind, offering a glimpse into the complexities of human anguish.

Got very nice message, Examine, touching.

With "God of Pain", from director JD Allen, being a horror movie that I had neither heard about, nor obviously ever watched, of course I opted to check it out. Given my love of all things horror, then I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch the movie.

Writers JD Allen and Shyina Crayton put together a rather bland and mundane script and storyline. I struggled to find anything interesting in the narrative, and my interest in the movie was waning with each passing minute. The contents of the storyline just didn't come off as being particularly scary, nor actually particularly entertaining. And that made for a boring movie.

I was actually not familiar with a single actor or actress that performed in "God of Pain". And believe it or not, but that was actually something that served in favor of the movie, as I do enjoy watching unfamiliar and new talents on the screen. The acting performances in the movie were fair.

The effects in the movie were okay, but nothing outstanding to be seen. However, the prominent mask worn by Algea sort of failed to impress me, as I have seen it on Temu.

"God of Pain" is not a movie that I would recommend to horror fans, as it just simply isn't really worth spending 99 minutes on. Nor is it a movie that will ever grace my screen a second time.

My rating of director JD Allen's 2023 movie "God of Pain" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

God of Pain might have worked as a series of short webisodes, but as a full-length feature it is extremely repetitive, with virtually nothing in the way of plot progression, making it quite the tedious experience.

The film is set in the near future: murderers and sex offenders are taken to the 7th terrace, where an injection in the eye transports them to another realm to be punished by Algea, The God of Pain (Jason K. Wixom), who forces them to relive their crimes (shown in flashbacks) before making them suffer for their sins.

This set-up is repeated several times over, getting more and more tiresome with each subsequent instance. In an effort to switch things up a bit, writer/director Jd Allen has two of the prisoners vindicated, one compensated for his trouble, the other offered the opportunity to work alongside Algea as a punisher, but it does little to improve matters - it's still very mundane.

Rather than eliciting a feeling of pure terror, Algea is a rather laughable specimen - a scrawny fellow wearing a cheap-looking Halloween mask, who talks in a very silly voice. And he has large rubbery hands. There's a bit of splatter for the gore-hounds, but nothing particularly remarkable.

My rating is 3/10.

With a phenomenal concept and incredible assembly of a passionate cast and crew, God of Pain does a lot with a small budget. I loved the anthology of characters and each portrayal all being tied together in the framework of the Algea character.

While the occasional budget constraint might show through in a small part of a scene, there's no doubt that it only highlights the creativity on full display by the talented director, producers, and actors.

I'm excited to see more from Inglewood Films, and I have every confidence that this same team with a proper budget will deliver a unique, new horror villain audiences have been wanting for decades.