Judas Ghost (2013)

I'll tell you why so serious

Excellent but underrated film

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

.. it is an OK movie to watch.First things first. I wasn't scared, at all. TBH, I only get scared when movies do psychological horror right, and those aren't exactly common (hardest to pull off).BUT, that said, was I bored when watching this movie? Not really.Actors do their jobs well enough, they are playing clichéd roles (geek, a hot psychic, macho man, broken man) and play them just fine. The dialogues aren't painful, they are realistic enough (for the kind of people these are). And last but not the least, the CGI isn't completely bad (that darkness effect looks terrible in every "horror" movie tbh).I didn't really care much for the ending and the movie doesn't exactly show us the "big bad", but only his minion.. which I guess is the case because they wanted to set up a sequel considering a lot of things (like the people they work for or their holy magic thingy) aren't explained properly.BUT, like I said, it isn't boring. It's a popcorn movie and still way better than the abominations called "horror", Paranormal Activity directors poop out every now and then.So yeah, popcorn horror. 5/10

JUDAS GHOST Simon R Green writes his first film script and director Simon Pearce makes a rare move into feature-length films to direct a low budget horror that's confident and comfortable in its genre.The plot is derived from Simon R Green's Ghostfinder novels about the paranormal investigations of the Carnacki Institute; a small team is sent by the Institute to a non-descript church hall that has seen some ghastly goings-on and they record events to use as a training film for the Institute's new recruits.Judas Ghost benefits from a sharp, witty script, strong acting and direction that maintains a cinematic quality despite the single location and few actors – it never looks like a stage play. The film has won several awards for direction and acting at festivals and even the special effects look pretty good for the low budget.The central drama is of a nameless horror shrouded in a creeping darkness that advances on the team, picking them off until vanquished by a heroic sacrifice. One criticism is that this is not the most sophisticated set-up, the film comes across as a light run-through of a horror tale and there is the feeling that it could have gone to a deeper level. Having the characters hold hands and chant the magic words to repel the darkness just seemed trite.Overall, any criticisms should only be mentioned in passing. So many horror films are instantly forgettable or so sub-genre that you know what's going to happen almost as soon as the film starts. Judas Ghost has enough attractions to avoid that, not least the ghoulish Judas Ghost itself, well played by Graham Fox. It also has the name of Carnacki, and anything that keeps Carnacki the Ghost Finder and his creator, the great ghost writer William Hope Hodgson, before the public must be a good thing.

There's not enough to keep horror fans entertained even if it is for under 70 minutes. The characters are wooden and appear to read a script 30 seconds before being filmed and there's no real development or story.OK so we know they are ghost hunters but how do they develop magic powers and create lights with chalk and salt??? A door that moves around a room and a ghost that stands around not doing much. The music was OK but didn't have the suspense or purpose of a higher budget film.Positives, Lucy Cudden looked amazing (worth a couple of stars for her)and it was better than watching terrestrial rubbish. Not horrendous but not great.

Saw this at Shriekfest: literally the 1st "movie" I've seen at my 4 festivals. Terrific acting and story, solid story-driven camera-work, great "look," shot for half-a-Mil. Only flaws are nitpickies made in any film. My vote was a 9, but I kicked it to 10 for this first-time director because it's every bit as good as Cusack/Håfström's 1408 on a tenth the budget. - Really IMDb? Ten lines of text? - Okay: I thought this would be a standard indie horror when I saw the trailer, but it *way* exceeded my expectations. The characters were people you enjoyed spending the time with embodied by actors confident (for good reason) in their abilities. The camera-work was innovative without putting a spotlight on itself, in full service to the story. The effects were used to striking effect, the low-budget shadows notwithstanding. I especially loved the "main" character's one bright-red arm of gore, like some sort of military presentation/accolade. -- Nice job and can't wait to see more from this hat-trick of director, producer and screenwriter.