A Resurrection (2013)

After once again not expecting much from this movie due to the generally lower ratings and reviews given here, I was once again very pleasantly surprised. Without giving away any spoilers, and starting with the characters and actors themselves, I am convinced that Mischa Barton could turn in a Meryl Streep level, Oscar-winning performance, yet the majority of people reviewing on these types of sites would be ripping her to shreds. I'll admit I am a fan of hers anyway—although admittedly more of some of her work and less of others--but instead of being disappointed as I was expecting, I found her performance very solid in this film, as I have her roles in other thriller/suspense movies she's done. It was nice to see her in another more adult role, and unlike many horror-type films, if anybody is making dumb moves in this movie, it is not her lead female character. In fact I thought she portrayed this role of somebody thrust into an impossible situation that challenges her beliefs yet forces her to consider and even accept that perhaps some things truly are possible very believably. And I truly thought she handled it as ably as anybody could have, from her initial empathetic approach to dealing with an obviously emotionally disturbed youth through the various stages required as she begins putting pieces together! Finally, I appreciated that a movie gave the female lead the chance to be the thinking one, and in this case, the most heroic despite being imperfect and flawed (for instance, not being able to come up with the Lord's Prayer when needed, and some choice lines that I found notable in one sense or another), albeit in an impossible-to-win situation. As far as the other characters are concerned, it took me a few minutes to realize I was watching the kid from the original Final Destination movie (having done something of a Michael C. Hall transformation into adulthood from the looks of it to me). As the Deputy, if there was one character I found frustrating, it was his—but only in the way the character was written. As one other reviewer mentioned, you kind of know what's coming—but this movie doesn't play it out as many would have, and the Deputy is less than the heroic character I expected he would have been when he finally gets to the school. Albeit, he does play a key role in the unexpected twist toward the end. Michael Clarke Duncan's performance is as always solid—my only complaint being that we didn't get enough of him (that's not a cut to the script, just an acknowledgment that we won't get to see much more of him in the work he's left behind), and another likely heroic character not coming through as might have been expected. Finally, although I don't know the kid playing Eli, I agree with others who defended his performance—as a kid who's just lost his beloved brother in such a brutal way, the only person who ever loved him, I found his brooding, angry Eli (yet sympathetic as well in at least one sense) seemingly well-handled for the situation. Without giving anything away, I'll also say that despite many saying this writing and movie was horrible, the portrayal of Eli was spot-on, there are unexpected twists with several of the key characters, and I also found myself thinking about this movie for a while after watching it. So as others have said, if you like your movies to show a lot of brutal killings, this is not the movie for you. But the sound effects, the tension throughout, and a few unexpected jumps provide more than sufficient suspense. So if you instead appreciate a more thoughtful, suspenseful supernatural tale that does not play out exactly as you might think it would, you should find this movie worthwhile. I do not claim to be an expert on movies dealing with the supernatural, but this movie tells a story of one such situation that seems as believable as any other supernatural approach would be—and for that, this movie and these actors told the story as well as could be expected and better than many such movies. I will certainly be buying it for my collection--and as one other reviewer noted, it does end in a creepy way that definitely leaves it open for a second part, which I for one would look forward to.

A strange outcast kid who likes to draw has recently lost his brother in a mysterious hit and run accident. He claims his brother is returning from the dead with the help of a witch, becomes entangled with the brother's former rivals, and the school shrink attempts to intervene. Some really crazy and tragic stuff follows.A RESURRECTION is decently acted and quite well-filmed: The winter scenery adds a great deal to the atmosphere. The first 20 minutes or so are very engrossing, but the storyline then progressively staggers, quickly degenerating into a pretty ho-hum slasher flick. A RESURRECTION may be worth seeing if you're a big supernatural horror (or Mischa Barton) fan; but then again, you've probably seen this movie many times before.There's a lot more they could have done with this. More back-story on the brother's death and why it happened might have helped.

I do not want to believe that this is a real movie... I'll be honest as I can be.... people die or get hurt out side the screen, so you never see any gore or any violence you just see people and a few seconds later they are hurt.The "Main" character of the movie is one of the worst actors I had ever seen in my life, to be honest the acting in the movie is some of the worst The acting is very very bad The writing is dumb, nothing makes sense, at all, not the actions people take, the anything that happens it's just something you need to skip and never watch. it's stupid, it's poorly written and it's all around bad

In Middletown high school, the outcast Eli (Jonathan Michael Trautmann) is bullied by the braggart Brandon (Nick Jandl) and his friends. They are hold in detention by the principal Addison (Michael Clarke Duncan) to be interviewed by the psychologist Jessie (Mischa Barton), who is engaged of Deputy Travis (Devon Sawa) that is the son of the local priest.Jessie and Addison realize that the mentally disturbed Eli misses his big brother Devon (Patrick de Ledebur), who was murdered in a hit-and- runner. When Eli finally talks to Jessie, he tells that Devon was killed by Brandon. Further, Eli tells that he found the body of his brother and a witch has put an evil spirit in his body. Now he needs six souls to live again and he will seek revenge against Brandon and his friends. The skeptic and atheist Jessie does not believe in his words."A Resurrection", a.k.a. "The Sibling", is a low budget horror movie with a tense story but all the potential is wasted in a terrible conclusion. My vote is four. Title (Brazil): "O Despertar do Mal" ("The Awakening of the Evil")