Verità sepolte

Finally! I saw something better! It's been a while, well, with the exception of Sweet Home, good productions are rare these days.

Let me start by saying I am a huge Thomas Jane fan, so of course I may get a little subjective here, but beside his great acting skills and the rest of the crew involved, The Veil does deliver. A nice plot, used so many times, way better job this time, some good jump scares, intrigue and a good ending. I would almost grade it a 7, but I'm going to give it 6 stars, cause it got predictable real fast. My only complaint about the movie.

The Veil is a nice surprise, a great start this year for horror fans, so far at least, lets keep our fingers crossed and see what else is out there!

Cheers!

In most respects The Veil is a very ordinary film. It takes a well trodden path that mixes the notion of re-incantation with an invasion of the body snatchers/possession twist.

Most of the performances in this flick are pretty forgettable. Jessica Alba's character, who is supposedly the lead, spends most of her time looking like she's about to have a painful visit to the dentist. She's perpetually afraid, from the opening scenes to closing credits, with little in the way of emotional range, in between.

What holds this film together and really defines it is the show stealing performance by Thomas Jane. Janes character, cult leader, Jim Jacobs, is a pretty transparent Jim Jones, Peoples Temple, knock off. But what a knock off! Jane is absurdly good and utterly convincing as Jacobs. So much so, I kept watching what is otherwise a rather mediocre film.

Its a shame we don't see more of Jane in leading roles, he clearly has a lot to offer. I think for one thing he'd make an outstanding Jim Jones, should anyone decide to revisit that sad story. As to The Veil, I'd say watch it for Jane's remarkable performance but beyond that, don't come to this flick with big expectations or you will be disappointed. Five out of ten from me.

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.

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.

Not only that this was actually pretty decent, but also looking at the rating of this. While other (mediocre) efforts in the horror genre have been lauded and got better reviews, this actually builds suspense and can sustain it, but does not to hit the spot with at least a lot of people here on IMDb.

The story is out there, even if it is based on something real and something horrible (cult, mass murder/suicide), which might be something some people may have an issue with. If you can detach this from reality (it's a movie after all and if any of it were true it would be more than frightening of course), you can have fun and be scared - all the things this movie promises as entertainment