Gehenna: Where Death Lives

Was drawn into seeing 'Gehenna: Where Death Lives' with a cool poster/cover, a premise that does compel one to watch and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive. Unfortunately, it is however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films are present here, that to me was watchable but disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. As a film it's mediocre, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. Having said it was also not a bad film, it is among my better recent low-budget viewings. Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky. Most of the acting is not good but Doug Jones does create an unnerving presence. 'Gehenna: Where Death Lives' is generally not a bad film visually, it's decently shot and the effects were above mediocre (the best ones reasonable). The start intrigues and there are some creepy moments early on that aren't too predictable, shame the rest of the film completely goes downhill and doesn't recover until the unexpected and shocking conclusion. Unfortunately, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained and ridiculous in the middle act where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary before the conclusion. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning most of the acting which is wooden generally and Lance Henriksen looks disinterested. Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both underwhelming. Its structure is at times aimless and confused, not incoherent as such but clarity was not a strong suit here There are a good deal of underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The thriller elements generally don't thrill or intrigue, they are dreary and predictable and hurt by the tameness and lack of suspense. Likewise with the mystery elements. There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror and resorting to cheap typical horror tropes and turns that are neither interesting, believable or surprising. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, inexperience seems to be all over the film, and the music doesn't really fit. There is not an awful lot of creativity or much shocking. Overall, watchable but doesn't have enough to warrant repeat viewings. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Honestly, I'm a bit of a morbid person, and knowing the root of the history of the name "Gehenna" (do your own research if you want), I was expecting something possibly more biblically or mythologically based in plot, but was wonderfully disappointed. The story line was good, and while many points were predictable, the end was surprising, and it left me with some decent bedtime jumpiness (which for me is the point), and plenty to mull over in terms of what is worse than death.

After the first five minutes of the movie, i wanted all of these people to meet their inevitable deaths. not only does this movie have terrible acting, but it's actually racist in a number of ways. the whole premise of the movie is some white chick working for a white guy with her white friends looking at native land to buy it and destroy it to make a resort. this movie continually makes fun of native people and trivializes every tradition that native people have. there is a character who's name i don't care enough to learn that treats a nonwhite man he hired like a servant. he degrades him over and over, and when he goes missing, one of them notices, but then they all just walk away. i'm writing this around halfway through the movie and it doesn't impress me at all. the only reason i'm still watching this is to see them die, finally, and the sacred land will stay sacred.

This movie is absolute garbage. I am an avid horror watcher, and this has been on my Netflix list for awhile now... I wish I never decided to change that... You never once feel for any of the characters, helping it being even less scary than it already was, which was not at all. Terrible acting. The only good acting was by the foreign actors in the film. I was laughing in the final 20 minutes. It's cliched out the ying-yang; so predictable and dull. I can't believe I wasted a Saturday night on this nonsense. Save yourself and avoid this at all costs.