In an era of watered-down horror films, JeruZalem breathes life into the genre. The film was shot in Jerusalem, giving it authentication, while its religious subtext will incite a fear so primal that you will find yourself clutching a Bible before the final credits roll.
One of the biggest successes of this film is its setting. Set in the Holy City of Jerusalem, JeruZalem leads off with a quote that will set up the entire premise: "There are 3 gates to Hell, one in the desert, one in the ocean, and one in Jerusalem." Playing off of our fears of the unknown, wound tight to a firm backing in religion, JeruZalem plays with forces that we know little about and hope to never see.
JeruZalem is a found footage film (at its core) that employs new technology as its lens. The film utilizes Google Glass as its camera, giving us a window into the film and a perspective that is distracting at times, but is an interesting idea to run with. It holds up better than a handy cam film would have. I think that, had Google Glass been a bigger success than it was, this perspective would have translated l lot better. It is a bit difficult to get used to in the beginning, but as the film progresses, becomes an essential tool to the main characters. This is an ingenious way of giving the viewer some side story and fleshing our character background.
The Paz brothers (Doron and Yoav Paz) are the visionaries behind the film, and toy with the ideas of Hell on Earth, without trampling all over the Holy Land. The pacing was great throughout the film, and the sound is truly horrifying. The synopsis of the film is, Sarah and her friend, Rachel, travel to Tel Aviv for vacation. When they meet someone in transit, they are whisked away to Jerusalem, unfortunately one of the Gates of Hell open up and unleash Hell on Earth.
This is a great film, with genuine scary moments. The use of the POV as a tool, rather than a method is something to be commended. It allows certain moments int he film to shine, and give the filmmakers some interesting obstacles to throw at the main characters of the film.
It pains me to see that this film had some horrifying creatures, that looked great up close as well, but were limited by the budget of the film, and had to resort to brief glimpses, and half distorted shots most of the time. Danielle Jadelyn (Sarah) doesn't get a ton of screen time as the main character in the film, due to the fact that she is wearing the smart glasses, but there really is no big standout character in the film, so this is not a big issue to me.
JeruZalem is an interesting film, that should not be passed up due to its budget short falls. Go see this film, it will scare the Hell out of you! I cannot wait to see what the Paz brothers could do with a larger budget.
