Jeruzalem (2015) Reviews

• A Massive Letdown

  karlsaville2016-01-25

  Such a disappointment for a film that started so well. I liked the Google Glass POV concept - much more believable than lugging an open laptop or a video camera around, and the early glimpses of the bat-winged demons of the apocalypse was excellently done. The characters developed nicely, the acting was quite acceptable (despite Yon Tumarkin's wooden and unconvincing contribution), and Jerusalem beautifully shot. Just a pity that the director had to go and spoil that magnificent build-up by unaccountably jamming in ever single one of the most ridiculous found-footage and horror movie tropes you could think of. Have these people never SEEN a horror movie before? It's like they're DETERMINED to die. I just couldn't make it to the end - giving up on the film after 15 minutes of unwatchable dark, broken footage as they crawled through the cave of the demon bat beasts. All I could think was "won't this mewling woman EVER shut up?". I do hope she got eaten. What a waste!

• Annoying first person view and lots of questions

  lukasbaehler2016-07-12

  The most annoying thing about this movie is that it is filmed through "smart glasses" (they are basically google glasses) of the main character. Now, i personally love well done found-footage horror movies but this is just plain annoying. e.g. voice recognition turns on randomly and starts playing music during an intense scene... yeah, as stupid as is sounds, it happens. Until a good portion of the movie is over we learn absolutely nothing of interest to the main plot. And even after the movie we know so little about what actually happened. The plot goes like this: Two girls go on vacation in Jeruzalem. They have fun there and meet two nice guys. One of them starts having a bit of a bad feeling blah blah blah. Suddenly we see fighter jets bombarding the town and the a long long escape follows. All we know is that basically judgment day is about to happen. That's it. There are only very few monster encounters. All of them except one don't feel creepy one bit, unfortunately. I think the premise of the movie is decent but badly chosen first person view and a long hysteric escape makes this movie not really worth to watch.

• film would have been OK if it wasn't for Sarah

  vernonw702016-01-29

  This movie had so much potential. The premise was OK, if not just a bit too convoluted. And there wasn't very much explanation, so you're kind of disjointed. It was almost like there were two different directors for the first and second halves. It seemed to be going in the right direction, but then just went from bad to worse. I believe if they would have just killed off Sarah at the beginning of the movie, then things would have been alright. Every other character was likable,and not a douche like Sarah, but instead we had to suffer through the whole movie with this needy, snivelling, annoying, I'm gonna get everybody killed because that's what I do, character. I couldn't even enjoy the film because I had to fast-forward through all of her whining, self-righteous bull-crap. So that was pretty much the whole movie. Thanks a lot Sarah. If you can stand a character like that and have some time to kill, then go for it. Otherwise, don't regret it like I did, and find another movie.

• Big promises. Small results.

  plucsenecal2015-07-22

  This could have been a great movie. Yes, the synopsis might sound corny, but the potential was there for something dark, mysterious, subtle and of course creepy as hell. The Google Glass thing worked for me (although it might annoy some), as did movies in the same "genre" like CloverField and Creep. If you've been to Jerusalem, you'll get memories coming back at you during this movie. Lots of beautiful footage. Apart from that, the movie lost me with its inconsistencies, lack of balance, superficial take on the Jewish mythology and a storyline which was either gimmicky or not credible. From the start, we could feel the storyline was forced with the intro and the numerous signs that announced Jerusalem was going down with a boom. The visuals were nothing exceptional, and the Paz Brothers could've achieved much more with less demons. A giant? Really? The characters' action often left me bemused, with the IDF straying away from their mission to escort a girl in the asylum (not happening in real life, ever.) Omar killing himself (pretty pointless), the soldiers NOT shooting the demons, psycho-David hiding under a table... Also, it felt like the main character was either calling out names, crying or saying : "I'm sorry", which made her more annoying than anything else, although I suspect she hardly had any help from the script, which is nothing to write home about. The lost brother storyline added very little to the movie, beside getting a guy blowing his opportunity at getting head (pun intended), a crying scene and a funny joke at the Western Wall. It could have been easily left out, had it not intervene at the very end, in a manner that was simply uncalled for. Finallt, the movie left me asking for more, with an ending that wanted itself shocking, but fell short of the terror this movie was promising.

• disappointed

  Stararmour2016-01-25

  Jeruzalem (2015) started off decently, and i will echo some of the other reviewers in saying that the footage of the city itself is beautiful (i really want to go to Jerusalem now!), but apart from the obviously pretty scenery, there isn't very much going on. the back-story is hinted at, the character development is sub-par (leaving the viewer unaffected by their happy/ sad fates), and the creatures/ demons look way more promising in the trailer than in the movie itself. All in all, the investment this movie demands is nominal, leaving me very 'meh' at the end. oh, the only response that sticks is annoyance at the main protagonist's stupidity (constant sobbing/ screaming type). Also, how long does it take someone to figure where to aim?! major disappointment. :/