The Reincarnate

Yep, here it is.. the worst movie I've ever reviewed on this site. I will give an opinion on Practical Magic one day, but not in the near future. Anyhoo, what is this film about? That my friend is a complete mystery, and not one I care to unravel. Looking at the front cover, it obviously fancies itself as a horror flick. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless the prospect of 90 minutes of boring, meaningless talk fills you with dread, in which case it is absolutely terrifying.

The plot, something about a bloke with a month to live, a promising young sculptor and his virgin girlfriend he is being forced to sacrifice is utter piffle and does not make one jot of sense. At least in most bad 'scary' movies like this, there are some cheesy special effects to laugh at or extremely fake blood and guts spilt. Not a bit of that here though.. just tedious characters flitting from one droning conversation to another, with no break for scares, killings or anything else that even resembles fun. Wait a sec.. occasionally we do get a sight of a rather loud moggy (SPOOKY!), but his role in the final production is quite arbitrarily. In fact, he looks like he has been edited in from another film.

What is the director's game here? Did he start out with a ton of gory scenes, but then cut them out because he was aiming for a PG? Could the inexplicable 18 rating this has in the UK be for that never-been-seen-before version? Who cares, the missing footage isn't really going to go down with the ones from 'The Magnificent Ambersons' in national importance. Either way, the fact remains that someone actually financed this tripe after reading the script, actors thought it was worth reciting this awful dialogue and somebody had the brains to release it on video when the negative should have been quietly thrown in a nearby dumpster. The mind boggles.

Anyway, I repeat: this is by some distance the most snoozeworthy, waste of space of a film I have seen in many a moon.. so take advantage of it's rarity by steering clear of it like a landmine on the motorway. Thank you, and good night.. 0/10 (DUH)

As one character says, "This sounds pretty hokey to me," which is a good description of this overlong, overwrought, pretentious diatribe on reincarnation.

This might, I say, might, have made a middling episode of a TV series like 'Tales from the Darkside' or 'Tales from the Crypt' but as a film it's far too slow and dull. Nothing really happens until the final part of the film and before that it's just talk and more talk. Nothing wrong with that but it's static and too much time is taken with endless shots of the leads looking at each other and explaining the plot.

More a drama than an actual horror film but lacking any tension or suspense. You can see the end coming from the start and it's just a matter of waiting till it happens....eventually.

The style of acting reminds me of amateur dramatics at the local Church hall, very intense and earnest but quite boring for the audience.

This type of stuff has been done far better in other films with a reincarnation theme. This is one that I don't want to come back again to watch!

Plus it also has one of the worst closing credits song I have ever heard!

Mr. Julian, a wealthy "laudator temporis acti", aesthete, and patron of the arts, is diagnosed terminal. He quickly puts into motion the complex ritual which has kept him alive for many centuries...alive, at least, in a manner of speaking. His memory, you see, is a continuum which has been passed down through generations of recipients. This transfiguration occurs during an ages-old rite which requires two things...a suitable successor, and a virgin sacrifice.

THE REINCARNATE is a film of interest chiefly to those with a fondness for the more cerebral elements of horror. Spare of action and bloodletting, emphasis is instead placed on the eeriness of harbingers in the storyline, and the creeping buildup to an unforeseeable conclusion. The cast does a marvelous job here, especially Jack Creley as the mysterious Mr. Julian, and Jay Reynolds as David, the headstrong young sculptor who has been selected as a worthy link in the chain which has kept an ancient memory "living". It's a minor, yet thoughtful picture with a few glaring deficiencies, foremost an undeveloped substory involving a cat, which seems like it may have been an impulsive eleventh-hour afterthought. [*spoiler*] There's also the rather sexist notion of males being free to live out an eternal consecution of full, productive lives, while females are limited to a brief, chaste existence which ostensibly repeats itself forever. Seems a bit unfair, though it does keep step with many real-world theologies.

All things considered, you may well find that this film has been rather unfairly dismissed. 6/10.

Not bad but it's too talky and low key to generate enough thrills or work as a horror picture.

Yes, a surprisingly engaging low budget film. What is of interest is the film's ability to convey a very thick atmosphere for the arts and of reincarnation. It is chock full of the usual kitsch associated with minimal budget films (filmed in Toronto, by the way) but this is of no consequence. Both Jack Creley and Jay Reynolds work well together and are excellent actors in their own right.

Pretty much a forgotten film now I would recommend at least a single viewing and for those frightened by horror films your desire to be "creeped out" will be satisfied. Like The Shining the horror is more in the story than in shocking images. It will envelop you and you will want to see it again.

7 out of 10.