JeruZalem

JeruZalem
Directed by Doron Paz,
Yoav Paz
Produced by Doron Paz,
Yoav Paz
Written by Doron Paz,
Yoav Paz
Starring
Cinematography Rotem Yaron
Edited by Reut Hahn
Release dates
Running time
 94 min
Country Israel
Language English

JeruZalem is a 2015 Israeli horror film.

Plot

The Americans Rachel Klein and Sarah Pullman plan a journey to Tel Aviv. On the plane they meet the student Kevin Reed. Kevin is fascinated by religious mythology (especially the dark angel, the Golem and the undead or zombies). He suggests that Rachel and Sarah could join him on his journey to Jerusalem. Kevin wants to spend Yom Kippur there. Sarah has fallen in love with Kevin and convinces her friend to go to Jerusalem. On their way to the hotel they meet a local who believes that he is King David. The local warns them to leave the city because it's dangerous, but the friends believe he is just a mad guy. In the hotel they meet the Muslim Omar. While Rachel starts an affair with Omar, Kevin and Sarah get closer to each other as well. The four friends enjoy their time in Jerusalem. They go to parties and visits sights. When they visit the Western Wall, Sarah writes a wish onto a paper. She wishes that her brother Joel comes back, who had recently passed away. As soon as she puts the paper into the Western Wall, a swarm of black birds is flying over the Western Wall. The four friends don't waste any thoughts about this and go away to see Solomon's Quarries. There Kevin sees drawings on the wall. He doesn't feel well and wants to leave to look something up at the archive of the city. While Sarah joins him Rachel and Omar stay at the quarries. After his investigations at the archive Kevin warns Sarah to leave the city, because after this day there wouldn't be a tomorrow. Sarah also thinks that there is something strange going on in the city but her friend Rachel doesn't want to go. Kevin insists to go, but Omar and his father believe that Kevin is crazy and send him into a psychiatry. In the night there is an explosion. In the TV the people say it were terrorist attack and that the inhabitants should leave Jerusalem. Sarah tries to set Kevin free from the psychiatry, but at first she has to face the demons, zombies and possessed humans in the psychiatry. Sarah and Kevin manage to get out and meet Omar and Rachel at the city walls. However, the city walls are closed down and the people are not allowed to leave the city. Anyone who tries is brutally shot down. The four friends don't want to give up and try to reach the other side of the wall by going through quarries and caves under the city. On their way there they see demons and zombies who attack humans, bite them, scratch them and eat their flesh. The friends believe that the doors to hell have been opened. Soon Sarah realises that Rachel has been scratched as well. Kevin warns Sarah and tells her that Rachel's condition is infectious, that Rachel is going to change and would soon attack. Neither Sarah nor Kevin know what to do. However, they don't want to leave their friend behind and decide to take her with them, so that Rachel can see a doctor when they get out. In the caves Rachel's condition gets worse and worse. Suddenly Demons and zombies begin to attack the friends and Rachel joins them. Sarah falls down and Rachel gets back the control over herself. She warns Sarah to run away then she takes a pistol and shots herself into her head and dies permanently. A short time later Omar also kills himself. Now Kevin and Sarah are alone. They meet a creature with black wings. It turns out that the creature is no other than Sarah's brother Joel. Joel helps them to find a way out of the caves. When reaching the other side of the wall, Sarah realises that she has many scratches similar to Rachel's scratches. She turns into a zombie-like demon and flies into the air, while Kevin watches the situation in shock.

Cast

Overview

JeruZalem is a zombie/possession thriller.[1] The big Z in the title refers to the word zombie.[2] Doron Paz and Yoav Paz wrote and directed the film. Yael Grobglas, Yon Tumarkin, Danielle Jadelyn and Tom Graziani starred in the film.[3] On 10 July 2015 it was first shown at the Jerusalem Film Festival.[4] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray.[5] JeruZalem was filmed in Jerusalem. Some historical sites, ancient architectures and religious landmarks are shown in the film. A few background information are given about these sites and architectures.[6] The film was inspired by the Talmud [Talmud (Eruvin 19a)] line: "There are three gates to hell, one in the desert, one in the ocean and one in Jerusalem." Doron Paz and Yoav Paz also worked as the producers for the film. They raised most of the $160,000 budget themselves. The film was sold to many different countries around the world, among them were the United States, UK, Germany/Benelux, India, Japan, France, Venezuela, and the Philippines.[7]

Critical reception

Continuing Israeli cinema's recent trend of homegrown genre films, Jeruzalem doesn't exactly break any new stylistic ground. Its use of Israeli performers results in some jarringly bad attempts at American accents, and the film clearly suffers from its low-budget limitations. But the creepy evocativeness of its superbly utilized setting (the filmmakers reportedly shot on the sly, at times claiming to be working on a documentary), and the well-realized creature designs make it a more-than-respectable horror effort. The haunting final shot alone makes it worth the price of admission.
— Frank Scheck (Filmjournal)[8]
"JeruZalem" is just a wobble-a-thon with incessant screaming and a predictable trajectory for its leading ladies, even if the final, arresting image of a malevolently transformed skyline makes one wish a more enticing, original road had led there.
— Robert Abele (Los Angeles Times)[9]
JeruZalem is a biblical nightmare set in an inherently characteristic locale, and while generic found footage methods are used, there's still enough here for horror fans to enjoy (or fear).
— Matt Donato (Wegotthiscovered)[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Matt Donato (January 2016). "JeruZalem Review.". Wegotthiscovered.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Gilbert Seah (30 January 2016). "Movie Review: JERUZALEM (2016) Israeli Zombie Film!". Festivalreviews.org. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Luke Ryan Baldock (30 August 2015). "Jeruzalem review. FrightFest 2015: “A tense and often scary film”". Thehollywoodnews.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Debra Kamin (10 July 2015). "Jerusalem Film Festival Opens With ‘Amy,’ ‘Jeruzalem’ and ‘Tikkun’". Variety.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Ryan Champion (4 February 2016). "DVD Review: Jeruzalem (Israel, 2015).". Iris.theaureview.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Bradley Smith (16 January 2016). "Movie Review: ‘JeruZalem’ Makes Good Use Of Google Glass". Redcarpetcrash.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Lauri Donahue (28 August 2015). "It’s the Talmud — with zombies! — in new Israeli horror film.". Timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Frank Scheck (12 January 2016). "Film Review: Jeruzalem. You'll think twice before booking that vacation trip to the Holy City.". filmjournal.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Robert Abele (22 January 2016). "Review 'JeruZalem' Israeli horror film suffers in a found-footage purgatory.". latimes.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.