A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity.
| Tagline | Say your prayers |
| Release Date: | Jul 01, 2020 |
| Genres: | Horror, Mystery |
| Production Company: | Angry Adam Productions, Blumhouse Productions, BoulderLight Pictures |
| Production Countries: | United States of America |
| Casts: | Dave Davis, Lynn Cohen, Menashe Lustig, Malky Goldman, Fred Melamed, Nati Rabinowitz, Moshe Lobel, Spencer Zender, Dun Laskey, Hershy Fishman, Ronald Cohen |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $0 |
| Revenue: | 1868659 |
'The Vigil' explores a dark part of history via some fascinating mythology that is underutilised in modern cinema. It's a shame that an interesting concept for supernatural thriller falls victim to the influence of lazy modern horror filmmaking tropes and clichés. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-vigil-a-rare-excursion-into-yiddish-horror
I will admit to feeling just a little uneasy as I walked back to the car after watching this debut from Keith Thomas at 11pm. Dave Davis is "Yakov" who is a bit down on his luck, on some pretty heavy medication, and struggling to get back on track after a fairly traumatic event from his past. A rabbi asks him if will act as a "Shomer" - a person who sits with the deceased to recite prayers and generally ward off any evil before burial. As he watches over the body, the usual spooky things start to happen - lights flicker; things go bump etc; and on that score it's all a pretty routine horror flick; but as his fears start to build, he begins to confront his own demons as much as he must the predatory "Mazzik" that feeds from his fears. Save for a few short appearances from the widow - Lynn Cohen, it's essentially a single-hander and Davis does an OK job - aided by the drearily-lit room and some suitably tense - if frequently over-the-top musical accompaniment. It's not exactly scary - but it's still a decent effort based on a source of legend rarely exploited by Hollywood. Best seen late at night when it's dark outside, I'd say...
