From Within

source: From Within

I recently went and saw this movie during the after dark horror-fest weekend and I was really impressed. Before I went to see it, I really didn't have a clue to what it was suppose to be about and I was shocked. This movie had thrills and chills, mixed with an excellent cast of young and rising stars. Elizabeth Rice(Odd Girl Out) stars as a teen who arrives back to her home town and is caught up in a mystery, when a strange rash of suicides begin to claim her friends and other teens in the town. A truly disturbing performance by Steven Culp(Jason goes To Hell:The Final Friday) as a creepy, but yet intriguing pastor who may be behind the series of violent suicides. This slick teenage flick also stars Rumer Willis(The House Bunny) and Margo Harshman(Simon Says and Legacy), both appearing in the 2009 horror remake, Sorority Row. Other impressionable stars of this flick are, Thomas Dekkar(The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Brittany Robertson(Swingtown), Kelly Blatz(Prom Night), Laura Allen(Dirt and The 4400) and Adam Goldberg(Zodiac). I really liked this movie and i cant wait for it's March DVD release. It's Definitely worth checking out!

The portrayal of Christians in this movie is so bad that you would have to be entirely ignorant of the religion to suspend your disbelief. You have Church members beating other people up, lying, fornicating, kidnapping, and committing all manner of violent crimes, and not despite their religion, but because of it, in the name of the lord. It ruins the whole film. It's like watching a movie about orthodox Jews and somehow they're all at Sonny's eating barbecue. It just doesn't happen. Or like watching a movie about the army where are all the rank insignia are wrong. If the Christians had been portrayed more realistically, like committing crimes without simultaneously preaching, or even more realistically, if they weren't portrayed as Christians at all, the movie would have been much better. It's too bad really. It was a good idea for a horror movie but the stupidly unrealistic portrayal of Christians ruined it.

This movie start with Natalie sitting with her boyfriend Shaun as he reads he kisses Natalie . Natalie believes he wants to have sex with her - until he pulls out a gun and commits suicide. Then see Natali going to father shop covered in blood and tells her someone after and then not soon after she also killed herself. There more people have stared to kill them self in recent days. , Dylan and rest of the town people (who are really religious) think that Aiden's family has got something to do with the recent deaths as he mother used to do witchcraft before she was killed. I really enjoyed this movie, i did find this movie scary but it did have some really creepy scenes, the twist at the end I was like " no way", it was one of those really fast and short twist which i think made it bit more shocking (for me). I really liked this movie, i going give a 8 out of 10

Alright, well I didn't really think this movie would fit into the "After Dark Horrorfest" genre, but apparently it did. This movie was interesting, and yet it was sort of dull. Confused? Well I will try to lay it on the line. The interesting part was the who religious fanaticism going on through the movie, that they showed just how crazed some people can become and to what extends some people are willing to go. That is what I found interesting in the movie. And the dull part? Well, basically the entire movie was just one long smear about nothing much in particular. There was very little happening throughout the movie. And what did happen wasn't scary at all, it was just a bit out there. And that was a major disappointment to this movie. Now, I am not saying that this is a crappy movie, it does have its moments and there is a constant sense of dread laying just beneath the surface, but this dread never gets a real chance to shine through. The movie is psychological, and that works very well in its favor, and the scenes that do draw on the supernatural, does work nicely as well. The whole part about being killed by yourself, and no one else but you can see what is going on, is kind of freaky, and that was the good part about the movie. "From Within" took a sweet long time to tell very little, and that made the movie drag on forever and ever. There wasn't enough sparks and magic to make this movie all that interesting. Sure, the movie had potential and they were on to something with the story, plots and the twists in the movie, but it just didn't catch the bigger picture. The cast in "From Within" was good, and I think they all portrayed their characters very well and in believable manners. So there is nothing to complain about here. The leading roles were portrayed well, and the supporting roles were the same. The effects were good throughout the movie. They didn't revel in one grand CGI eye-fest after another, but rather made use of subtle effects and scary environments and small details. That is one of the cooler things in movie-making. The ending was nice, although not a surprise ending. But it worked well enough. I am rating this movie a 4, because of the story took forever to get you almost nowhere. But still, there were elements that managed to keep my interest throughout the movie. Now, if you are looking for a movie to scare the crap out of you, this is not the movie to pick. However, if you want a psychological movie with some underlying supernatural elements, this might be right up your alley. But be prepared for a very long storytelling...

A "suicidal" curse has been unleashed on a bible belt Southern town of Grovetown due to the murder of a practicing witch who was accused of killing a local in a nearby river. The suicide of the witch's son at the beginning of the film, specifying a chant from the Grimoire, invokes the curse causing it to spread from one victim to another after each individual is forced to kill them self by the conjured evil(..the evil is a reflection of them, their fate shown right before the victim dies). Aidan(Thomas Dekker), is the remaining family member of the witch, her son, until his cousin, Sadie(Margo Harshman)arrives. Lindsay(Elizabeth Rice), is a pretty, kind teenager who offers an olive branch to Aidan when he's attacked by the local minister's vocal son, Dylan(Kelly Blatz). Lindsay and Dylan are an item, but this relationship deteriorates over time due to their differences towards Aidan..to Lindsay, he's a suffering victim whose mother's murder was covered up as an accidental burning, while Dylan sees him as a weapon of the devil who must be put an end to for the safety of his Christian flock. When Lindsay herself receives the curse, she asks Aidan for help while Dylan sets out, with help by local believers, Roy(Adam Goldberg)and Paul(David Ariniello), to purge their town of the evil that exists within. As typical of films like these, Christians(..and their faith)is presented as backwards, ignorant, antagonistic, overwhelming, intolerant, and overly aggressive, even to the point of resorting to cruelty and violence(..obviously those involved in the making of this film presented this as a symbolic reminder of the "Burning Times") The witches, however, are presented as innocent victims, suffering indignity and wrath for choosing to refrain from the religion of those around them, in turn, victimized for whatever horrors might take place, just for what they believe in. A murder(..by the local minister, no less, covering up a homosexual tryst with the victim)begets another..the witch receives the blame for the crime committed in her backyard and is executed for it. We witness how Christianity is a harmful threat, riddled with corruption, and those that oppose the religion, are set up for potential danger..it's a presentation that is often brought to the screen this way which is a shame, because not all Christians are such loud, chest-thumping tyrants willing to inflict such damage towards unbelievers. The film's supernatural threat resembles those often seen in the Asian revenge ghost genre, with the setting of a backwater town full of Christian bigots the relative difference. Some recognizable faces pop up such as Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's child, Rumer, as an early victim, Jared Harris as her father, and a completely unrecognizable Adam Goldberg as a vulgar, often imprisoned, representative of the trailer park community, who Dylan uses as an enforcer(..of, course!)to settle "conflicts of faith". Laura Allen stars as Lindsay's alcoholic white trash step-mother Trish and Brittany Robertson portrays her school pal, Claire. While the threat of the curse is recognized, the evil Christians, led by the domineering, confrontational Dylan, are presented as the ultimate weapon of destruction. Through the materializing friendship between Lindsay and Aidan, we see a developing uprising against her for "consorting with evil." Blatant manipulative writing such as this rather irks me because it often displays such a general disregard for those who believe in something the filmmakers clearly do not, and this provides them with an opportunity to demonize them..a pulpit to use Christianity as a horrifying threat to the world that must be stopped, and only can through witchcraft. Not particularly violent, we watch as terrified victims are confronted by their frightening mirror images, soon perishing when there's nowhere left to run.

In Grovetown, there is a series of suicides after the suicide of an outcast teenager Sean (Shiloh Fernandez). His brother Aidan (Thomas Dekker) waits for the return of his cousin Sadie (Margo Harshman) to the family house for the funeral. When Dylan (Kelly Blatz), who is the fanatic Christian son of the reverend, beats up on Aidan, the undesirable youngster is helped by Dylan's girlfriend Lindsey (Elizabeth Rice) that drives him home. They talk about Dylan's mother Candace Spindle that had a grimoire to worship her pagan gods in a creek and was blamed by the god-fearing locals of murdering a man; then she died in a suspicious fire. Lindsey and Aidan befriend each other and sooner she finds that Sean has cursed the town with his own sacrifice unleashing an evil force that is leading the inhabitants to commit suicide. When Lindsey is chased by her evil image, Aidan decides to help her to stop the curse; but the price to be paid is high. Last week I bought "From Within" on DVD without any reference, and I had low expectations with this movie. Fortunately I was wrong and I was surprised with this great horror movie. In this original story, the Christians are evil with their fanaticism, self-proclaiming "soldiers of the Lord" and capable of dreadful murders in the name of God. Further, the conclusion with no redemption is unusual in American movies that prefer commercial endings instead. The sweet and gorgeous Elizabeth Rice has an amazing performance and shows a perfect chemistry with Thomas Dekker. The unknown director Phedon Papamichael shows a promising debut, supported by a good screenplay and a cast with great potential. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): Not Available

this film is poorly acted and didn't shock me at all due to its unoriginality. i usually don't watch films like these because you already knows whats in store but thought i'd give it a chance, i'll listen to my conscience more next time !!! i don't class Thomas Dekker as a good actor in the slightest but even he is too good for this role. i cant rate rate the main star of this because i've never seen her in anything else, she's in mad men which i really need to see..... so i'm not going to criticise her too much as she was OK i guess. on a whole the acting was really bad by all the other actors, the production of this was bad and just everything this movie has to offer is bad. it almost reminds you of those terrible Japanese remakes we've been seeing a lot of these days. this is just another one of those that probably cost more than made more films. just stay with the more main stream horror films......... 3/10........j.d Seaton

I often come across people who prefer horror films that happen to have a good story. I, on the other hand, prefer films with a good story that just so happen to be scary. "From Within" is one of the latter. After having watched it, I'm surprised I had never heard of it before. It has a sense of overall quality unique to its class (relatively unknown, made for a Horrorfest). The story is the movie's strongest point, with a plot that throws in appropriate twists without wavering from its core. From beginning to end, it is emotionally engaging and suspenseful. The character development exceeded my expectations as well, along with the performances from the cast. There is violence, but the film never drowns itself in gore. Most of the actual deaths happen just off-screen, giving you just enough build-up to use your imagination. Supernatural horror/thrillers are a dime a dozen, and many of them fall short of expectations. "From Within" stands out among the crowd— proving that given a well-executed plot and the right casting, films of this genre can be as powerful as ever.

If you can get through the first five minutes of Rumor Willis "acting" (act scared, talk all shaky, keep acting scared) then you might want to have a pen to check off every horror movie cliché From Within manages to hit : 1. Small town evil (check) 2. Religious nuts/rednecks (check) 3. Outcast kid (check) 4. Good girl (check) 5. Bad parents (check) 6. Cheesy mirror reflection not doing what the person standing in front of it is doing (check) From Within centers upon a suicide curse from a murdered witch's spellbook (no, really.) Said witch picked the wrong town to live in, seeing as its populated by holy rollers who don't take kindly to devil worshipin' and such. Her son, out of revenge, decides to unleash the curse on the town, one person kills them self, then another, then another, and the curse plays out like the Ring mixed The Hidden, if both of those movies sucked. Zero scares, zero shocks, characters you couldn't care less about, a laughable third act admission by a pastor (can you guess??), this whole movie is like a Very Special Episode of the CW's Supernatural, minus that show's decent acting and creativity, and plus a heavy lame dose of a ''message" about religion somewhere among this mess. Save your money and wait till its on Sci-fi at 3 in the afternoon one Saturday.