The Shrine [Blu-ray]

As the years have passed onward for me I find myself filling my dripping horror platter from places such as older films, foreign, and independents much more than anything in the mainstream as of late. The Shrine is a rare and raw piece of celluloid that can be laid at the altar of good films at a time when most are thrown out back for the diseased dogs to eat. It's true there are some things in the movie worth correcting but as it was once said "no work of art is ever completed, only abandoned." To overly-critique this movie is to focus on all that we would like to have instead of all that is before us which is a movie worth watching and deserving of money that's becoming more difficult to earn these days.The Shrine is set in a modern time yet pre-industrialized Eastern European town where food and supplies are produced, not bought. The xenophobic townspeople are more concerned with making do and being left alone than for the modern conveniences of the first-world mega-nations. This film is about what happens when overly curious, intrusive Americans march onward into this set aside village and the consequences for the modern not paying homage to the ancient traditions of others in this surreal, mysterious hamlet.The main characters are not to be respected though you may find yourself feeling sympathy for them. They are arrogant, disrespectful, and rude. As their fate becomes known to you the vague thought of "you asked for it" begins to prevail and not with a sense of remorse. The director clearly has some political opinions yearning to be expressed but it's not revealing unless truly examined.Eastern Europe with their olden, gothic histories is a birthing chamber for horror yet untapped by most American filmakers perhaps because most have such a limited understanding of how movies should be made; meaning for effect, not money. This director had a vision for this film's potential and that is not only clearly evident while watching, but appreciated.While viewing this piece, try not to obsess with the trivial shortcomings that this film may express yet focus on what this movie is, a wonderful piece that deserves recognition and praise.

I'm not one to take the time to write a review about a movie, but this is one of the few that I MUST! I've slowly been getting into horror movies over the last year, and I came across this gem on Netflix. My in for the movie was actor Aaron Ashmore, from Smallville, who I really like, and decided to give it a shot!I'm glad I did. The story starts out very simple, three Americans travel to a small farming village in Poland to investigate the disappearance of a guy who went missing, and over the years several others have as well. Also, the last thing I'll tell you about the plot is there is a mysterious fog in the woods that doesn't seem to go away, and seems to lead the group to that spot.A forewarning, once the action and horror really begin, most of the actors speak in Polish, and they're aren't subtitles during these scenes. I really appreciated the movie makers doing this, because clearly the Polish characters know full well what's going on in the story; but for the audience, we are following the Americans who have no idea what they're saying. THAT ADDS TREMENDOUS SUSPENSE TO THE PLOT! Since we have no idea what's going on, and it really adds to the horror and terror of the story.By the end, you'll mostly figure out what has happened, but I do recommend if you have any questions to check out the wiki page, it helped clear a few things up!Also, I purchased the Blu Ray, and the picture quality is AMAZING. I recommend whichever version you can get, but extra kudos to the Blu Ray!KyleP.S. - No idea if they'll ever make a prequel, but I would love to know how the fog ended up there in the first place. I bet the writers could make a really interesting story out of that one!

An atmospheric mix of occult and possession film, The Shrine is one of my faves, and since it never got a U.S. release on Blu-ray, I was hoping to upgrade my DVD to HD with the supposedly "uncut" (as labeled) Blu-ray release from Germany. Good news is it's Region A compatible so it will play on a U.S. player. The bad news is, it's actually two minutes shorter than the DVD! If you want a Region A compatible, uncut release of the film on Blu-ray, get the U.K. disc, also available on Amazon. The edited German Blu-ray version has the cover that says "uncut" and an FSK 18 label on it. The actual uncut UK Blu-ray release has the cover with an 18 logo in each bottom corner.

Love this movie

The Shrine is terribly acted and shot almost exclusively with massive bokeh portait lenses, as if the good looks of this movie's actors would make up for their overall lack of acting talent. The American actors trying to do Eastern European accents were especially terrible, which leads me to believe there was no actual casting conducted for this film.A collective 15 minutes of The Shrine are watchable. Could've cut the first 50 minutes of this movie and gone straight to the occult rituals and hallucinations, which in this film seemed like they were shot for a different movie altogether given the massive gap between their quality and the quality of every scene in which one of the actors with lines says anything.The most effective acting in The Shrine was by some of the older robed extra actors without any lines, whose body language said more than any lead or supporting actor said the entire movie.I would've been really mad if I paid any amount of money to watch this.

Thank you for the super fast delivery of the DVD I purchased from you! I can't wait to watch it!Thanks again!!!

Despite the terrible pronunciation of polish words from all but one of the cast this is movie I could really sink my teeth into. The story is great but I do have to say it illustrates the things that annoy me the most about americans (swaning over to another country and not even trying to learn the language, instant judgements on culture/religion, ignorance in general, refusing to apologise).So two reporters, Carmen & Sara start looking into a missing persons case that takes them to Poland (against their bosses wishes) along with Carmen's photographer boyfriend. When they get to the small farming town they see a patch of incredibly thick fog rising above the treeline which the missing person also saw. Naturally Carmen and Sara take a look inside the fog and all goes downhill from there. Unfortunately I did manage to figure out the twist to this film but it is a good twist none the less. The only criticism I can make about this movie is that the Polish are portrayed as living in some sort of time warp of the 1950's, as a half polish woman I would like to clarify that even in rural Poland we do have modern amenities and fashion thank you.The story and atmosphere are great in this film and while they could've done with better actors the story and tension make up for it. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, I definitely recommend it.

A journalist, her young associate and boyfriend travel to Poland on an unauthorised working trip, to investigate a spate of missing travellers who have visited a remote village. Of course, they don't tell anyone where they are going. The villagers are not happy to see their visitors, and ultimately a hidden secret is revealed to everyone's detriment.I need to say that this is not a bad horror film - it is competently produced, directed and acted. But there is absolutely nothing here that sets the film out over the plethora of other supernatural horror films that you can buy. It's all very predictable and although there is a lot of blood and gore, there's precious little in the way of real scares or development of tension to keep the viewer interested.Moving on to the disk, this is one of those horror films that you can actually buy on Blu-ray. The picture is generally clear with that bright and glossy digital look. The beginning is subject to quite a bit of haloing and other minor nasties, but this settles down after the opening scenes. The film is shot with very muted colour - assumedly to convey a sense of hopelessness for the people of the town. Interestingly, the disk has two lossless audio tracks; a PCM 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1. I chose the DTS version which was very good with lots of use of the surround channels helping create a creepy atmosphere in the outdoor scenes.But overall this is a fairly ordinary production which isn't likely to stay on your mind for very long.

Two female journalists, with one of their husbands in tow, defy their editor and head off to Poland to investigate a spate of missing persons reports.They arrive in a rural backwater where a strange cloud hangs over the local forest, and a strangely-garbed group of priests hold sway. Believing that the strong, aggressive warnings by locals to stay away after they show around photos of the latest missing person indicate complicity in the disappearances, they venture towards the fog-shrouded forest, where the girls stumble across a gargoyle-like statue with a hideous grin (reminded me a bit of an evil version of the statue in  The Keeper Of Traken ).After they emerge from the forest, nothing is quite the same - and now the locals are determined that they are most definitely not leaving.This is a very old-school style horror, back to an era of weird cults and curses and the problems that outsiders bring to backwaters guarding terrible secrets.The acting is reasonable, but it's the story and the overall atmosphere that I enjoyed the most about this film. It has something of films like  Rawhead Rex  about it, and if you enjoy that genre, you will probably enjoy this. The Keeper Of TrakenRawhead Rex

I'm a big horror fan and usually find these movies a bit samey but the shrine is different and is a really great movie, basically a group of young journalists are investigating the disappearance of a number of hitchhikers who have suddenly gone missing at around the same place, a small remote town in Poland, when they arrive they do not get a warm welcome and suddenly suspect they are onto something, once they start to snoop around they realise they are dealing with dark forces the supernatural the occult! The movie has an old-school feel to it with some very evil dead style moments with the demons etc, there is some nice gore and blood all good practical looking effects, the cast is good too, it certainly is a well paced freaky movie with some cool scares etc, really worth taking a look if you like a good horror movie! There was only one slight annoyance with the fact some of the characters are speaking polish in the movie and there are no subtitles for them so you have to imagine what they must be saying! But this is quite a gem I think and worth going back to!Blu-ray has good picture quality (Arrow films release)No special features which is a shame.Region B, 81mins, 2010.Comes in a nice slim case like USA releases!

Different and intriguing going with full on suspense and not giving all away until near the end. Horror is involved and plenty of that. A young backpacker disappears after going to a remote village, known as a bizarre cult place that have human sacrifices, Well everyone is different are we not, followed by a group of journalist who are determine to find the truth and put these rumours to rest. Now no more clues as there is a lot more to go but I will let you decide what you think. I rated this an A grade plus for suspense as there is plenty of that and with a few ideas thrown in that will keep you amused all the way through. Entertainment plus so what are you waiting for gather up the popcorn, collect the movie, sit upright so you can make a fast getaway when the horror starts or have the remote control handy. Marvellous acting with a fabulous story that you won't regret watching oh by the way I forgot to mention to have some one with you to keep you company, you'll need it. Enjoy!