Customer Reviews

From Within

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A small town is afflicted with a rash of suicides. Beginning with a young man who shoots himself in front of his bewildered girlfriend, and continuing on to her, and on and on to anyone who is near the latest victim. A Christian girl named Lindsay is trying to make sense of these tragedies but is beset by the other affliction the town suffers, and that is the extreme religious views of its mega-church. Convinced the deaths stem from a local "witch" family, Lindsay's boyfriend Dylan leads the effort to first intimidate, and ultimately kill them off. Lindsay has to choose sides - devotion to the town's faith, or helping the boy whom the town is gunning for.

FROM WITHIN is one of the last of this year's 8 Films To Die For that I watched, and it's certainly one of the most polished. Acting is flawless, as is direction, cinematography, and, for the most part, writing. The story is coherent and follows a logical progression. And, it delivers plenty of chills along the way. In short, it has what most of the other films didn't have.

I do have two slight issues with the movie. The first is the fact that, chilling as it is, the bulk of the films scares are lifted almost directly from other films. You have the creepy girl with the hair covering her face, or the girl appearing in the TV, or the cheap After Effects shot of the sudden black-eyed demon face. The film also suffers from having THE BROKEN in the same festival this year, both films drawing heavily on mirrors and reflections attacking people. But, though these effects are lifted from other films, they are still employed very well here - the movie delivers plenty of great creep-out moments, even if they are familiar.

The only other issue I have is in the broadly stereotypical portrayal of extreme religion. For starters, the writers don't seem to have much of a grasp on what religious group they are portraying. At first, it would seem to be the evangelistic mega-church with its "God is here to bless you" mentality. But, early on it is clear that they want these to be "witch hunt" types that blame every ill on the devil and are quick to take up a gun and shoot their own members who stray. In other words, NOT the type of belief system that attracts enough members to become a mega-church.

Later still, the loonies are suddenly invoking a catholic type ceremony, making the sign of the cross on a girls forehead, repeating a rote prayer, and referring to visions of the Virgin Mary. It's this kind of inconsistent portrayal that tells me the writers were just looking for a convenient villain, and thus created a conglomerate of every religious stereotype they could think of, again lifted from other films.

Now, at least the pastor has his moment to condemn the extremities that his son is going to. And, to be fair, the pagan character are also rendered in a pretty stereotypical light. In fact, one could argue that, at its core, the film argues for moderation from ALL faiths, as our two main characters both seem disillusioned with the extreme believers of their relative belief systems. I know the feeling!

But, these quibbles aside, the film is still very well put together, and will have no problem being remembered as one of the few stand outs for After Dark's third Horror-fest.

In my opinion, this latest series of films in the "After Dark Horrorfest" series is much better than their predecessors, and "From Within" continues that trend. The film is a cross between "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Grudge," with elements of revenge and a curse. The movie takes place in a small town, where so-called Christian zealots hold cult-like sway over many of the people, with one notable exception: a family of wiccans (for lack of a better term). In an event prior to the start of the movie, a woman was burned alive because the religious townspeople suspected her - without any real evidence - in the death of a child. Events are soon set in motion, resulting in a curse being placed upon the town for their evil and unjust act. The film is really worth a watch, and the end has a really good twist!

The acting isn't too bad for a lower-budge movie. Thomas Dekker, from "The Sarah Conner Chronicles," is one of the main actors in the film.

There are some stereotypes (ignorant, hypocritical, over-zealous Christians as well as the ever persecuted wiccans) used in the film, but I don't think that they detract from the film too much. Again, if you liked "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Grudge" or just movies about vengeful spirits and curses, then this is a good film to check out. Enjoy...

I wasnt expecting much but this movie exceeded all of my expectations. If your looking for a horror movie this is the way to go plus it may be the only movie in the afterdark series since Gravedancers that has been entertaining.

I Really Liked This Movie. Just by watching the first 5 minutes of it, i had realized, i had seen it before, when it was first realeased, but i didn't remember it all. The Movie is really creepy, and just a really enjoyable film. Besides Autopsy, Best Film Of the After Dark HorrorFest III.

This movie is thought provoking. The story is simple enough, but the charactors have depth and the "special effects" are memorable. The acting is spot on.

From Within is a Great Movie. Great suspense plot. Kept me glued to the TV. Hope they make a part 2. Well worth the money. 2 thumbs up.

From Within has a pretty standard premise: small town with a dark secret unjustly murders a woman for witchcraft, witch takes revenge, townsfolk fall apart as their dark secret is unveiled and foolish teenagers pay the price.

From Within plays with preconceived notions of who is wrong and right in the debate over fundamentalism by sprinkling forthright characters with dark secrets...and dark characters with dark secrets too. Nobody's innocent. Not Aidan (Thomas Dekker, Mr. John Connor himself) the goth pretty boy whose brother Sean (Shiloh Fernandez) committed suicide in front of his girlfriend (Rumor Willis), nor Dylan (Kelly Blatz) the son of a preacher man. With Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice) in the middle, they form a peculiar love triangle that's not particularly convincing, as Dylan comes off as nothing more than a pious robot. It's hard to conceive that he and Elizabeth had a relationship at all.

The other characters, including Lindsay's boozy stepmother Trish (Laura Allen), her redneck boyfriend (Roy Adam) and the always-smiling Pastor Joe (Steven Culp) are all just about as awful as you might expect. Christian fundamentalism is portrayed as just as ugly as alternative religions like Wicca. It's not the mask of religion that's the problem, according to director Phedon Papamichael, it's what people are really like on the inside. And with the exception of Lindsay, everyone is petty, vindictive, and self-centered.

But this is a horror film with a curse at its center, and From Within doesn't disappoint. The ghosts all appear as dead, animated doppelgangers of their future victims, providing a fun "guess how they're gonna die" game for the audience that has echoes in Final Destination. The deaths all look like suicides, as the curse causes the victim to harm herself. There are two particularly inspired moments of creepiness, including a scene in a bathroom mirror and one confusing a bottle of whiskey with something a little stronger.

From Within hits all the Japanese-horror highlights, including a viral curse, creepy girls with long hair concealing their faces, and encounters that are just as weird as they are frightening. The first living person to reach the most recent dead victim catches it. This has to be the first social media curse.

But what really propels From Within beyond the usual ghost story fare is the ending. Nihilistic and unflinching in its damning portrayal of everyone in the town, the director shows no mercy. While that might not make for a happy ending, it sure makes for one heck of a twist.

Not quite as good as The Ring but certainly better than Seamstress, From Within is a worthy installment in American-style J-horror.

"From Within" isn't all that successful as a horror movie, or even as a regular movie. It is, however, often times very interesting in its approach, shifting back and forth between a commentary on religious tolerance and a vengeance fable that pulls no punches regardless of denomination. It's interesting and problematic, because by the end of the film, the Godless pagans look just as guilty as the fundamentalist Christians. In other words, I no longer could determine which side represented good and which side represented evil. Maybe that's the point of this film: That religion is dangerous no matter what god you happen to pray to. Or maybe it has nothing to do with attacking any particular religion; maybe it's just a way to make the overused idea of supernatural forces wreaking havoc seem original.

Whatever. What I know for sure is that, even though "From Within" had some genuinely engaging moments, it still didn't quite live up to its potential. Consider the fact that it takes place one of those small Southern towns where the vast majority take faith in God a little too seriously; while effective as a plot device, the truth is that we've seen too many horror films about communities with frightening mob-like mentalities. There's also the fact that religion is generalized to the point of turning virtually everyone into a caricature. The only neutral character is a teenager named Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice), who seems to recognize that, in spite of her own faith, people should be allowed to worship as they see fit.

The story: A string of deaths are plaguing the God-fearing town of Grovestown. At first, they all appear to be a part of a suicide pact; it begins when a teenager named Sean (Shiloh Fernandez) blows his brains out right in front of his girlfriend, Natalie (Rumor Willis), who later kills herself in her father's shop right before her father hangs himself. As more people die, the townsfolk begin to fear that it's not a pact, but a curse. Here enters a brooding teenager named Aidan (Thomas Dekker), the son of a woman who practiced witchcraft before her untimely death; when he's physically beaten by Lindsay's pious boyfriend, Dylan (Kelly Blatz), Lindsay takes pity on Aidan and takes him home. It there she learns more about his mother, whose demise may have been at the hands of extremist vigilantes seeking revenge for the death of a young boy.

The character development is interesting, if a little one-dimensional. Take Lindsay's stepmother, Trish (Laura Allen), an alcoholic who seems detached from everything. When she's not passed out on the couch in front of the TV, she throws herself at her boyfriend, Roy (Adam Goldberg), an angry kind of guy whose wardrobe always consists of dirty undershirts and baseball caps. Dylan's father, Pastor Joe (Steven Culp), is introduced giving a sermon, and we immediately sense that every word coming out of his mouth is laced with hypocrisy. At the other end of the religious spectrum, there's Aidan's cousin, Sadie (Margo Harshman), who deeply distrusts Lindsay simply for being an outsider. She only wears black, and she can never speak to anyone without copping a seriously off-putting attitude. She supplies one of the films best moments of humor; as Lindsay and Aidan talk seriously about what's happening in town, Sadie sits at a piano, hitting dramatic chords.

I've said plenty about the characters, and that may not be a good sign because this is supposed to be a horror movie. What about the horror, anyway? There are some great atmospheric moments during the suicide scenes, in which the victims see ghastly apparitions of themselves. This obviously plays into the film's title, suggestive of the inner demons we all have. Exactly what brought on this curse is something I leave for you to find out. I will say that it isn't all that surprising given the vindictive nature of the story.

That brings me to the disturbing ending, which is satisfying in that twisted, downbeat, horror-movie way that can't easily be described. I use the word "satisfying" reluctantly, mostly because I didn't like the fact that I felt any sense of satisfaction. It's not a pleasant ending--it's ugly and mean-spirited, and it actually made me rethink how I felt about certain characters. Then again, maybe that was the intended effect. Director Phedon Papamichael seems to have labored under the belief that duplicity wears many masks, none more convincing than that of righteousness. If that was the message of the film, I can't help but question why it had to be sent in the guise of a horror story. A simple parable would have been just fine. (No, I'm not making comparisons to "Doubt," which is anything but a horror film, although it is worth noting that it was able to send the exact same message without resorting to supernatural occurrences and grizzly death scenes.) In spite of its flaws, I'm well aware that "From Within" was made for a very select horror-friendly audience, and I have no doubt that they will respond to this film.

Who would win in the battle between in the battle between light and dark? Where will the battle be fought? These are the questions asked by Phedon Papamichael in his new film From Within. While the film does tread some well-worn territory, the movie is atmospheric enough - and the performances are good enough - for the viewer to be able to overlook the tired tropes and enjoy a solid independent horror film.

From Within begins with a suicide, followed immediately by the death of the person who witnessed it, followed by many more deaths. The residents of the ultra-religious town begin to suspect Aidan (Thomas Dekker), the son of the woman they killed for practicing witchcraft. But who's really to blame for the string of deaths, and what price must be paid in order to stop them.

As a veteran of the last three "8 Films to Die For" festivals, I wasn't expecting much from this film. The annual horror festival is synonymous with boring, derivative crap. You know it's sad when the best film to come out of the previous two outings was Nightmare Man, a C-grade schlock fest saved by corny acting and Tiffany Sheppis' [...]. So you can understand my trepidation coming into this movie - especially after having the derivative Dying Breed a few weeks ago. Luckily, I was in good hands.

From Within begins shakily. It's difficult to decipher what's going on at first. The film simply transitions from one deadly set piece to the next without any apparent connection. Only when "final girl" Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice) decides to befriend the gothy-looking Aidan do the pieces of the plot begin to come together. Besides the foibles with the plot, other things fall a little flat. I wasn't too bothered by the whole people-getting-killed-by-evil-doppelgangers aspect of the story, but I felt it would have been creepier if we couldn't see the force killing these people.

Despite the flaws, the film does a lot right. The religious fanatics weren't too over the top. You could definitely imagine these nut-jobs living in a red state near you (hell, there are plenty of them in Arizona). Also, the ending was note-for-note perfect. The film's credit sequence - a grim version of the apocalypse - is creepier than most of the horror films that came out in 2008.

As another entry in the horror genre, From Within is a competent and engaging movie that's just a little rough around the edges. As an entry in the "8 Films to Die For" library, it's a near masterpiece. While you should definitely skip the majority of the films in this year's collection, From Within is a must see.

As I was watching this movie I thought that it might cause a stir. It portrays (in a very real way) a town partially populated by the kind of bigoted evangelicals who give Christianity a bad name. I read some user comments on imdb by kids who complained that even at their own fairly liberal High Schools that they were being called baby killers and told they were going to hell if they didn't blindly believe. That's what makes this movie truly shocking. These people really exist. It also has a great plot about a thoroughly frightening curse with a genuinely unique opening and a wicked ending. It's well acted and wonderfully crafted. You'd have to be a complete idiot to think that it had any sort of anti Christian message, or more worrying, one of the intolerant fundamentalists who are portrayed in the movie. These are exactly the kind of people who voted Bush into power twice and are trying to persecute people because of their sexuality. Scary! Everyone in America should see this movie.