This casts an uneasy shadow over the slower build-up sequences that follow, but deftly creates a distinctive take on possession mythology. Jewish American Princess Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn), still troubled by her brother’s death, is given a Google Glass by her devoted father on the eve of a trip she is taking to Tel Aviv with her more outgoing blonde friend Rachel (Yael Grobglas, who was in Rabies). On the plane to Israel, they meet Kevin (Yon Tumarkin), a handsome archaeologist who persuades them to come with him to the old city of Jerusalem, where they hook up with friendly local Omar (Tom Graziani) and set out to party hard and visit ancient sites.
This is rougher and more dramatic than most imitations of The Exorcist (itself partly an imitation of The Dybbuk) as the subject sprouts ragged demon-wings and is summarily executed by a priest with a single shot to the head. The film opens with a snippet of a filmed exorcism, purportedly from a Vatican archive. While the Israeli film industry has recently turned out several horrors – Aharon Keshales and Navot Pupushado’s Big Bad Wolves and Eitan Gafny’s zombie movie Cannon Fodder – JeruZalem, scripted and directed by brothers Doron and Yoav Paz is the country’s first supernatural effort. It’s also a next-generation version of the found footage horror film, one-upping the tonally-similar Cloverfield by having a protagonist wear a high-tech Google Glass device rather than tote a HUD camera through an apocalyptic crisis. This offers a satisfyingly large-scale demonic incursion as glimpsed from the streets. Even with the proliferation of found footage films in which characters get lost in haunted tunnels, JeruZalem is unusual enough to command international attention. Great examples of immersive vision in this way can be found in the V/H/S franchise segments Amateur Night, which also utilises glasses, and Phase I Clinical Trials, which has its camera directly in ocular implants, but these don't define the entire film as in JeruZalem.Given the wealth of Jewish lore and legend, and its use in various versions of the golem and dybbuk legends, it’s a surprise that it’s taken so long for a demonic horror movie to come out of Jerusalem, sacred to and contested by three major religions. It's choppy and disorganised, and the effects are a bit silly - but that doesn't detract from the central genius Glass premise that sucks you into the narrative in the first place. Unfortunately, JeruZalem doesn't uphold its originality throughout the rest of the film's production, telling the tale of two American tourists in Israel when a biblical nightmare unfolds over the city.
Voyeurism is taken to its natural peak with the progression of technology, and its as immersive as found footage can probably get. This unique viewpoint plays perfectly into our sensory experience of vision - as rather than watching recorded footage through the lens of a cameraman, we're watching directly through the eyes of our protagonist in a way that often hasn't been established so clearly.
0 kommentar(er)
