The Entity
The Entity
| 22 January 2015 (USA)
The Entity Trailers

THE RING goes ‘found footage’ Peruvian in a terrific example of the continually igniting South American new horror wave. A group of media students embark on a documentary project covering ‘Reaction Videos’ - filming people watching intense shock footage online to monitor their psychological effect. And they find one example so terrifying the viewers have all died in mysterious circumstances. But what exactly is on this gruesome Internet footage? Their search leads to an obscure corner of cyberspace known as the Dark Web, a Quechua curse dating from the Spanish Inquisition and a demonic power they cannot escape from.

Reviews
Nigel P

In this Peruvian horror, a group of students (don't fret – they are quite a likable bunch) decide to film 'reaction videos' as they watch a legendary old film located in the archive room of an old cemetery. Emerging as a kind of cross between 'The Ring' and The Blair Witch series, their viewing releases a curse that causes all kinds of carnage.This would have been so much more effective if the makers had resisted the temptation to abandon subtlety in their otherwise interesting scares. The shrieks and wails are turned up high, the scars are deep and the blood runs plentifully, and sadly, when possessed characters rise up and float around, the result is an unsteady mix of the 'exorcist-style' and the blatantly absurd.The performances are never less than very good, with Mario Gaviria's mischievous Benjamin emerging as possibly the most memorable (certainly the most playful), although Daniella Mendoza certainly makes the most of Carla, who as a character, is someone to keep a careful eye on.The familiar shaky cam is used to good effect here, and the locations are dark and sombre, with only occasional moments (like the CGI moving statues) lapsing into cartoon incredulity (again, more subtle techniques may well have been less intrusive). A very interesting, if flawed addition to the found footage genre.

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tiailds

The simple description was not encouraging. Was adequately disappointed."Was it interesting?" The research these film students do is bizarre at best. The antagonist has strange motivation and rules.1 out of 3."Was it memorable?" The acting at time is atrocious. The characters are so archetypal to be almost caricatures. The camera work kept moving away from anything that would need more than 1 second of special effects..5 out of 3."Was it entertaining?" The twist ending was OK, but the rest of the story was just tired. Another horror with characters that I want to die, not to mention an enemy that has little to do with me so why should I be scared.1 out of 3.Starting with 1 (because I saw it on a react video on "the deep web"), 1 + 1 + .5 + 1 = 3.5 I'll grudgingly go with a 4 for the few interesting special effects. For found footage, this is bottom of the barrel.

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whinger1979

My initial reaction to a foreign language, found footage style film was one of disinterest & after the first few minutes of watching it, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about continuing. But I'm glad I did. I can always tell that I'm watching a good foreign language film when I forget that I'm reading the subtitles because I'm so wrapped up in the plot. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't really add anything new to an already too common genre of horror. But it works. The cast do a good job & the plot managed to keep my interest throughout. If you're like myself & are willing to give any horror film a go, then I'd recommend checking this out. It won't win any awards but it's a hell of a lot better than some of the recent found footage horrors I've seen of late.

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ASouthernHorrorFan

The concept does play on familiar and popular themes in this branch of the horror genre, the more classic, Gothic tales of evil begetting evil, but instead of feeling redundant, "The Entity" is entertaining. The cast are very committed to their characters, and give decent performances. There are times when they come off as more "acting" than authentic but it isn't enough to bring down the atmosphere that Eduardo Schuldt creates in "The Entity". Plus there is enough of those reactionary scenes mixed in with the character building moments to keep things thrilling. Some characters are more captivating than others, I was partial toward Benjamin, and Lucas. The special effects are the expected blend of spooky, paranormal CGI and practical gore which really work well in "The Entity". The demon is never defined to the level that becomes hokey, or ridiculous. It actually maintains a creepy, shadowy presence reminiscent of haunting stories. Only you can tell this isn't some vengeful spirit, it is a demonic "thing" that is blood thirsty. The gore is visceral and somewhat celebrated in the scenes surrounding deaths of the doomed cast. A real plus for "The Entity". Overall I enjoyed "The Entity". The very beginning gives an impression of "oh another found footage horror" so I was quick to not think I was going to like the film. However within 20 minutes I was already digging the atmosphere, the themes, and the controlled, well constructed way that Eduardo Schuldt utilizes the blend of video diary, found footage within the "film student" concept. True at times it doesn't quite feel all that compliant with traditional found footage style, the shots aren't as grainy or choppy as you normally get, everything seems pretty HD here and too concise, but the movie was entertaining, thrilling and full of screams and blood so I was happy.

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