Jack - A Caixa Maldita

Jack kept me in this, even though the story made no sense!

This film has a great box and an excellent villian. Jack's costume and the actor's movements (especially his facial movements) were a real highlight. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much else. The dialogue feels unnatural and the music score attempts to compensate for this unnatural pace of the plot. The barren set design does not help with the world building either.

Not a deal breaker but, even as a non-american, I could pick that the main character was not from the US, and it breaks the already tenuous realism built in this film.

The demon's costume and performance were fantastic though.

Watch or don't, it won't change you life.

It's not gory. It's not fast-paced. It's not fancy.

They clearly spent all the budget on the box and Jack - which are nice and convincing. But they obviously hired their cousin with a DSLR to shoot it. It is recorded with ambient light and sound. So it just looks and sounds flat. That seems to be the standard nowadays in these dime-a-dozen pre-professional horror movies. So if you are looking for stimulating atmosphere, there is an echo-y, brightly sunlit, nearly empty local historical society "museum" at the center of the film.

It is also very understated in a British way. The lead actor will wind up going on to better things. He is charmingly handsome; and it is only up for him from here. He just had a peculiarly muted accent. Most of the other cast was staid and just there.

The movie had some interesting ideas. A decent protagonist. A very well-designed villain. But horror-oriented plot, suspense and execution - not so much.

A low budget but enjoyable horror. The main character is a good actor and the jack in the box wasn't exactly scary but was entertaining.

Why is it that so many low budget British horror films feel it necessary to have at least one American amongst the lead cast but don't employ an American actor or an actor that can do a convincing American accent? The main character here is Casey, played by Ethan Taylor, meant to be American but judging by his laughable accent he obviously isn't. I have marked this down as this is a pet hate of mine. Bad accent aside the Jack in question is reasonably creepy and there are a few half decent scares. Sadly the pace between kills is slow, some of the acting is of the wooden variety and the plot is predictable.