The Appearance (2018) Reviews

• There was just so much potential squandered here...

  paul_haakonsen2018-12-17

  I so much wanted to love this movie, given its premise and concept. But the movie just failed to convince me and turned out to be a rather mundane and, let's just be bluntly honest, mediocre movie experience at best. The storyline had so much working for it, but writer and director Kurt Knight just failed to bring all loose ends together in a fulfilling way, and the potential of the storyline and story arches were nowhere near utilized to the extend of their full potential. Nor were the characters properly being utilized throughout the story, which definitely put a restriction on the acting performers. I will say that they had a rather impressive ensemble of cast together for performing in the movie. Baylee Self - playing Isabel, the alleged witch - really carried the movie most of the way with her genuinely creepy performance. And I must say that Michael Flynn - playing abbot Scipio - also really performed exceptionally well in the movie, it was just such a shame that his character was not a more prominent one, especially given the outcome of the character. The same goes for actor Adam Johnson - playing Felix - his potential wasn't properly put to use either. And the lead roles played by Jake Stormoen and Kristian Nairn were also quite adequately performed - despite them not having the most interesting characters in the movie. There was a genuine creepy atmosphere to the movie, with the lack of proper lighting and the enclosed tunnels, which definitely worked in favor of the movie, just a shame that all the potential of the movie was left squandered in a dark corner somewhere on the set. "The Appearance" does have the audience guessing and speculating for sure, but it feels rather anti-climatic once the ending of the movie comes to fruition, and that didn't really help to lift up all the shortcomings that the movie had along the course. I liked the atmosphere and the props, sets and costumes of the movie quite a lot actually, because it seemed very accurate to the period of time in which the movie was taking place, and it added a good amount of creditability to the movie, which was much needed. This is the type of movie that you will most likely just watch once and never get around to watching again, because the movie just doesn't have the contents to support more than a single viewing.

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• The original is better

  thefanfx2018-12-14

  And its called The Name of the Rose (1986) , a weak remake lost the original feel

• Snore

  edgalarza2018-12-17

  I had a difficult time with this film. It was very slow paced and not very interesting. Took some effort to see this one through to the end. On the plus side, it does have Hodor (Kristian Nairn) from Game of Thrones.

• Good atmosphere, enjoyable movie

  dctr6662018-12-15

  The movie is interesting and eerie, much because of the scenery itself. The acting is good, and the movie, although a bit slow, is very nice Some user told this is a new version on The Name of the Rose....... But that's completely BS... It has nothing to do with it, with the exception of the religious background, the plague and some monks dying... But that doesn't mean that the movie is a copy of that old one (which, by the way, is awesome)

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• Failed to deliver.

  deloudelouvain2019-01-16

  I was tired before I started watching The Appearance so I struggled staying awake with this movie. But it's not all due to me being tired, it's more because the movie wasn't that captivating. There was some good acting, like Baylee Self playing the alleged witch, but overall it wasn't that great. As for the horror parts they could have done much better. We're living in an era where a kid could make some decent special effects so for that this movie just failed. As for the story itself it wasn't bad but it has been done much better in the past with In The Name Of The Rose so watch or rewatch that one instead if you want a good movie. The Appearance is just a missed opportunity to make a good medieval horror movie.

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