She Who Must Burn

source: She Who Must Burn

A man murders an abortion clinic doctor. Unlike real killings, he had the backing of his church and community as part of a plan. Angela (Sarah Smyth) a nurse and counselor vows to stay on with her live-in boyfriend Deputy Mac (Andrew Moxham). However the Westboro-like woman's community has issues and they come to Angela for help to the ire of the congregation who must do God's work. The film was successful in making me feel uncomfortable to watch it, which was the intended aim. It had that creepy "Children of the Corn" feel to it, except this was not far beyond the realm of possibility. I wish they has a different title and DVD cover as I keep expecting that scene as I watched the feature. Guide: F-word. Rape. Wife beating. No nudity

I have to agree with Dark_Lord_Mark's review. If you are more conservative you probably won't like it.

Larry Kent is not an unfamiliar name in Canadian cinema, having made a number of features since the '60s. He might not be the first name you think of when you think of Canadian film, but several of his movies are quite well-regarded by those who have seen them. He started out with exploitation but with "She Who Must Burn" he is mainly exploiting my anxiety and my anger towards extremists in religion - in the very best way, of course. A fanatical evangelist kills a nurse in a planned parenthood clinic, after which the clinic is shut down. Angela worked as a counselor there, and people continue to see her for help after the clinic shuts down. When Angela helps the wife of one of the evangelists to get to a safe place after he raped and beat her, the group of religious nuts go after Angela and the people who came to her for help. "She Who Must Burn" is not an easy watch - it's harrowing to the core. That's proof of talent in a filmmaker if there ever was. If a movie can get me as riled up and nervous as Larry Kent succeeded with in this, then that is a good movie in my eyes. There are some common traits between this and other movies dealing with a similar plot, but many of those movies come off as cheap horror movies in comparison. With a subplot of a storm coming, there is something very methodic to this movie, always making sure we don't feel safe. The evangelists are rather stereotypical but there isn't too much you can do to these characters if you want to stay within the frames of Christianity. The performances are still very effective despite being cut from the same cloth as characters we've seen before. This is definitely not a gory movie, but there are several scenes that could turn the stomach of some. When there's violence it gets quite nasty. Right in the beginning we're treated to the birth of a stillborn, and while I have seen way worse scenes in many movies, I still found the dead baby incredibly creepy to look at. It prepares us for some heavy scenes that we'll get later on. I'm confident that "She Who Must Burn" will split people. Even when acknowledging it as being effective and graphic, some people could have a problem with its ending. Personally I found myself to be in a state of both emptiness and relief at the same time as the credits rolled. It's in no way a happy ending, nor is it a fair ending - but there is something to it that sticks. There's an anger brewing inside of me when I watch movies like "She Who Must Burn". I guess having lived my entire life free from religion, I find myself get very affected by extremists in film. "She Who Must Burn" is fuel to the fire. The movie is terrifying without ghosts or monsters, but because of the strong beliefs. I think you have a fair idea of what this movie is, so you probably know if it's for you or not. If you want to see an over-the-top religion horror that gets you to the core, then this is for you.

I'm only giving this movie a 5 because of the good acting. Otherwise, it is a 3.5. The problem is how the characters react to the story line. They make really poor, almost unbelievable decisions. Several times in the movie I was distracted and baffled by some of these character decisions. There is an anti religion theme running through this movie but it's not too bothersome because it's hard to be insulted by a movie so silly. The Super Religious Zealots are very one dimensional. They embody almost everything wrong with religious fundamentalism and their actions are so evil it's hard to see how any religion would justify them. The Good Guys of the movie make really bad decisions, and then make things worse by making even worse decisions. It gets frustrating. But the real problem with this movie is. well, it is largely empty. The director pads the running time with pensive shots of clouds and barren landscapes. A lot of this movie could be watched in fast forward. The atmosphere is creepy but plodding. The acting, however, is quite good. I just wish they had a little more meat in the story for these guys to chomp into. One point; Obviously, one or two of these people appear to be psychic. Why didn't they follow up on this? (Or were the people not psychic but merely good guessers?) Who knows, it went unexplored. There was also almost an anti capitalist vibe where everyone had an oppressive boss and no one had insurance. Isn't this a Canadian movie? The ending was just plain hollow, silly, unresolved and lacking. Don't be fooled by the reviews. There are plenty of better movies to see out there. This movie rips off some of 'The Devil's Rain'. The Devil's Rain was a 1970s cheesy movie of the week with William Shatner and Ernest Borgnine and it is better in many ways than this unsatisfying, story. Another similar movie is 'Kill List', which handles this territory much better.

Trailer—She Who Must Burn

She Who Must Burn