I didn't see the original, so I was pleasantly surprised by the work in this film. It is a horror film, partly by way of Don't Look Now and The Blair Witch Project.
The Baader-Meinhof terror in Berlin initially seems like a strange backdrop for an Amish girl to find herself in, but the film is simply using them as a 'vessel', much like the coven use the dancers. Her start as the ingenue can't hide that our Amish hero is a little too well directed to her fate.
I thought the running time was fine, but others didn't. Once you appreciate what this film is, it is completely captivating and entertaining.
Where the film begins to waiver is when we finally get to see the ritual sacrifice, and the direction of the film slips into Hollywood mode. In todays world, we have no new insights into this genre, so maybe that was inevitable. The symbolism is not laid out any more than you would expect - and you would expect a lot. This is, after all, a Girl Power film with actual Girl Power. But made by a man. In addition we get Freud too - and the inevitable sex/death imagery.
Because the film doesn't quite own its own destiny, leaning heavily on the performances and the camera work, it will not be remembered as a classic, but I still think it does not disappoint.
The Baader-Meinhof terror in Berlin initially seems like a strange backdrop for an Amish girl to find herself in, but the film is simply using them as a 'vessel', much like the coven use the dancers. Her start as the ingenue can't hide that our Amish hero is a little too well directed to her fate.
I thought the running time was fine, but others didn't. Once you appreciate what this film is, it is completely captivating and entertaining.
Where the film begins to waiver is when we finally get to see the ritual sacrifice, and the direction of the film slips into Hollywood mode. In todays world, we have no new insights into this genre, so maybe that was inevitable. The symbolism is not laid out any more than you would expect - and you would expect a lot. This is, after all, a Girl Power film with actual Girl Power. But made by a man. In addition we get Freud too - and the inevitable sex/death imagery.
Because the film doesn't quite own its own destiny, leaning heavily on the performances and the camera work, it will not be remembered as a classic, but I still think it does not disappoint.