PRESENTS

A unique and new story that feels very classic in it's telling. It's a shame to see it fall so flat in the end. 'The Vigil' takes a crack at every jump scare gag in the book and is mostly successful. Not despite the audience recognizing these tricks from a myriad of other high traffic movies and anticipating the scares coming from 3 cuts back, but because of it. The writing and editing is very deliberate and uses the audience's familiarity with classic jump scare tactics against them. In the beginning of the film I had an uneasy feeling that the director had me right where he wanted me. Well timed spookiness, some effective jump scares, a couple gruesome practical effects and a demon with a good juicy backstory, but unfortunately, this is the extent of the film's successes and past the first 45 minutes it has lost its charm. After the 4th or 5th "happening", the scares fade from pleasantly familiar and well executed to predictable and boring. Not even the high energy and very believable performance from leading man, Dave Davis, can keep the audience engaged enough to forgive the monotony. Worth a watch for sure, but beware. Lean in extra heavy at the beginning, suspend your belief from the highest point and come in with lowered expectations, because the moment this movie begins to drag and you peak down at your phone, it won't have enough umph to draw you back in.