The Vigil

2 more reviews

1. ›The Vigil – Movie Review@readingdanvers1726d

   

   Blumhouse Productions really do have an endless stream of horror movies, but this movie is one of those that stand out. Like really stand out. There aren't a lot of Jewish Folklore based horror movies, but those that exist are excellent and this movie is no exception. Also, director and writer Keith Thomas has a "Master's Degree in Religious Education from the Hebrew Union College in New York" according to IMDB so I'm guessing that most things depicted in this movie are authentic.

   The premise of the movie is fairly simple, Yakov Ronen has left the Orthodox Jewish community and is now hanging out with others like him. From some reason his name sounds like two first names instead of a first name and a last name, but maybe that is intentional as Ronen is a more secular name. Yakov is clearly suffering from traumatic past experiences and also has difficulties with new modern world which he has not been part of for a very long time as apparently he has only recently left the orthodox way of life and is struggling with his new life.

   One day Rabbi Shulem approaches him and asks him to be a Shomer, the Vigil. The Shomer is someone who guards a body of a dead person over night before it is brought to burial in case there is no member of the family or friends that can do it. He must pray all night to keep evil at bay. It is a paying job that Yakov has done before so he is offered it now again.

   Inside the house there is only Yakov, a dead body covered completely in a sheet and Mrs. Litvak, the dead man's widow who extremely old and odd. I have never heard of this costume of Shomer, but being stuck inside a house with a dead body sounds like good horror material from the beginning. At first the movie feels really generic. The usual horror stuff, the slow burn stuff, but as the movie progresses you realize that there is something completely different going on here. Not just the mythology though. This movie has no jump scares. You will be scared for sure, but that cheap trick hardly exists here. There are other things here that compensate big time. It is a very well made movie.

   The movie also slightly touches on the subject of anti-Semitism, but only in a way that adds to the characters back story and not enough to make it a discussion about the new rise of anti-Semitism around the world. Which is a shame, it could have added even more to the movie. But it is pretty good as it is.

   On the plus side, unlike most movies that depict Jewish people all of the cast here are Jewish or of Jewish descent which is cool. Lynn Cohen who plays Mrs. Litvak is the most familiar actress in the movie, I mostly recognized her from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire where she played Mags, but she has a long history on the small and big screen. Dave Davis plays the lead character of Yakov Ronen, and he is mostly an unknown actor. He carries the entire movie and he is excellent. The movie couldn't have worked without such a stellar performance.

   It's just one of those movies that got lost because it is another Blumhouse movie and it came out during the pandemic and it only got a limited release in theaters. But if you feel like watching a great and different horror movie, this is the movie for you.

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2. ›The Vigil (6.5/10) - Religious horror from a Jewish perspective@dedicatedguy1997d

   

   ^Source

   I have had this movie on my to-watch list for some time ago and yesterday I finally decided to watch it. It is a horror story with Jewish characters and the writer used an apparently Jewish tradition to introduce paranormal events and a terrifying being.

   According to this movie, when a person dies in Orthodox Jewish communities, the body needs to be accompanied by at least 1 person on the first night. If there is no one to accompany the body, then they can hire another Jew to spend the night with it.

   

   The main character is a man who is going through rough financial times, he is currently unemployed and is having issues paying for his rent, food, and medications because he has some type of mental issue but it is not too serious. He is approached by a Jewish man from the same community and offers him the job which he reluctantly agrees.

   When arriving at the home, the wife of the deceased man immediately tells him to leave and never to return. Thinking the woman was just unstable due to her loss, both the main character and the man who hired him decided he should stay and complete the job.

   

   After some minutes inside the house, strange things begin to happen and the intensity gradually increases as the minutes keep passing. The situation will get extremely hostile and it will a "kill or be killed" type of situation. The paranormal danger is properly portrayed, the evil being has a cool and original look. It is not a masterpiece or a groundbreaking horror production but as a horror fan, I found it very entertaining.

   I think most people that enjoy this genre will have a nice time watching the film. It is not really scary but this has become normal with modern horror productions. The main character's vulnerability makes him likable which is always important in this type of story. This is a good watch, especially in these times when there is a scarcity of major movie releases.

   

   The best

   • Entertaining horror film.
   • Good performance from the main actor.

   The worst

   • The story felt slow at times despite its regular length of around 90 minutes.
   • The horror wasn't very original, the only new thing for me was the inclusion of Jewish beliefs.

   More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10793644/ Review: AA In numbers: 6.5/10

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