Temple

So three friends travel to Japan and go visit a temple that all the locals warn them against going near. Folks never learn do they, if the locals say stay the hell away then *Drumroll* stay the hell away.

Character development was spot on from the outset so I expected something a bit better. Instead the movie plods along up until the half way point and then turns to crap.

It all falls apart to such an extent that it becomes almost unwatchable. Our heroes arrive at the titular temple and well I'm sure you can pretty much work that one out for yourself.

The end has an ambiguous "Twist" but that does nothing to save the movie from its fate as a mediocre mess.

The Good:

Beginning is interesting enough

The Bad:

Loses steam at around the half way mark

Ultimately is just an all round mess

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If folks listened to the warnings of the locals these movies might actually be better

A better title for this movie would have been Friendzone, scary stuff

The film had beautiful photography direction, but the plot was unacceptable. It is literally a composition of erratic and incoherent plot points. The transition between these points was rather 'normal' in the beginning. However, there was such a lot of time invested in it, that the middle point was extremely rushed. I have never watched a movie that does not have an end. This film had a beginning and a middle - it lacked a denouement.

Natalia Warner's performance was atrocious. All she did was smile exaggeratedly in a tone that was quite reminiscent of a valley girl (without the 'oh my god's). There was a lot of subtlety in the feelings she had to convey, and not once was I convinced that I was seeing her as her character.

Brandon Sklenar, on the other hand, was promising, but he was purely decorative thanks to the predictability of his role. For such a small cast, that had a strong impact.

Character development was nonexistent. A group of three is in Japan and they decide to go a temple. We only know why they are there. That is pretty much it. Next thing we know is a repressed passion surfacing - though it was pretty evident from the first scenes.

Additionally, the sound effects were clumsily put together and did not have any fade-ins and fade-outs.

Finally, the Japanese cast was far superior to the American, but Logan Huffman's performance was acceptable, albeit constantly wearing a face in which he looked lost. I suspect this was a direction issue.

I always tell myself that even a bad movie will have something memorable and will be able to evoke some thoughts or feelings. Now, I do not consider this a bad movie, simply far from being a complete piece. As such, I am not sure what the takeaway is.

This is a far cry from Simon Barrett's work with Adam Wingard. A running time of 78 minutes would be okay if those minutes were packed with meat, but this bone is padded with empty fat calories.

The storyline is like a stretched out short story. Character development is minimal. The payoff is pathetic. The camera work is nice during the set-up scenes in the city and daylight but once the "scary" stuff starts we are literally in the dark, annoyingly so, for long stretches with whatever is finally happening taking place in short bursts in near pitch darkness. One major "surprise" is obvious right from its initial setup.

If you think you're in the mood for this, I'd recommend watching The Forest instead, even if you've already seen it.

This was a film, that, yet again seemed to have the potential to have been much better. There just seemed to be too many things going on that didn't seem to be significant or didn't contribute to any conclusions. Some nice cinematography, some good music, but not the best story-line.

Three American tourists (that create a love triangle) decide to visit a temple located at the forest of a small Japanese village, because one of the tourists (Kate) is studying religion and its traditions.

All well, seems like a decent plot and overall the acting (especially from the Japanese actors) is quite good. Except for the actress who played Kate, her acting skills need to improve... a lot.

Well-shot, with a good scenery of Japanese rural landscape.

Unfortunately the plot is very weak, there's no tension and the last 10 minutes seem rushed and quite confusing.

Could've been a good one but it was a waste of my time.