JeruZalem (2016)

Number Rolled: 89

Movie Name/Year: JeruZalem (2016)

Tagline: On Judgement Day, hell shall inherit the Earth.

Genre: Horror

Length: 93 minutes

Rating: R

Production Companies: Mifal Hapais, Epic Pictures Group, Paz Films

Producer: Shaked Berenson, Patrick Ewald, Uri Levanon, Rotem Levim, Nir Miretzky, Doron Paz, Yoav Paz, Borid Zeleny

Director: Doron Paz, Yoav Paz

Writer: Doron Paz, Yoav Paz

Actors: Yael Grobglas, Yon Tumarkin, Danielle Jadelyn, Tom Graziani, Howard Rypp, Yoav Koresh, Ori Zaltzman, Fares Hananya, Itsko Yampulski, Danny Zahavi

Blurb from Netflix: Two vacationing Americans join and anthropology student on a tour of Jerusalem, arriving just as a terrifying biblical apocalypse begins to unfold.

Selina’s Point of View:

When this movie came out it absolutely made my list of what to look out for that month. Despite the shaky cam in the trailer, it looked like a solid zombie flick.

We added it to our queue as soon as it hit Netflix and I’m thrilled that it didn’t take forever to roll it. There are movies on our list that I’ve been dying to see for ages. Some are even from before Cat joined Trust the Dice. I’ll eventually break down and watch a few of them even if they aren’t rolled, but I like to keep myself ready for a first impression in case it comes up for the blog.

Anyway, now that I’ve completely gone off track, let’s get back to the subject at hand.

I liked the use of the ‘google glass’ model in this film. Instead of a person having their phone, or camcorder, glued to their hand… it was a pair of prescription google glasses that was doing the recording. That kind of thing was bound to be used in a movie eventually. It makes more sense than a freaked out and screaming person remembering to pick up their camera. Prescription glasses are necessary, putting them on is like muscle memory. Even scared out of my mind, I’d still reach for my glasses if I wasn’t wearing them.

Right there, the movie made more sense than I had even hoped.

We all know, by now, that I am not the biggest fan of shaky cam. It makes me dizzy. I don’t even like first person perspective in video games – though there are a few exceptions.

(Despite the terrible reviews, I’ve been spending a lot of time playing No Man’s Sky [2016]. The bad reviews were well earned because they promised shit they didn’t deliver on and then cut all communication with the gaming community. Still, I love the stupid game.)

In this film, the first person perspective shaky cam was actually the right call. I think the entire plot would have lost a lot of its appeal and horror if we got it in general movie format. The shaky perspective gave the film a unique quality that heightened every jump scare.

I think it would have made a phenomenal video game. There were moments that felt more like cut scenes than actual movie scenes. Personally, that doesn’t bother me. I’m a gamer from back in the day when the heart of the storyline was told in the cut scenes that followed the boss battles. Nothing wrong with that kind of thing.

The only real issue I had with the film was the acting.

In a normal movie it’s not unforgivable to be able to tell the actors are acting. You go into the film knowing it. The thing with any kind of found footage/shaky cam is that everything the actors do needs to look 100% candid and natural. It can’t look, or sound, scripted. If the actors fail at that, it takes away the heart of what shaky cam is used for – to give it that ‘true story’ feel.

The only actor that accomplished that necessary natural feel, was Tom Graziani (Tyrant, A Place in Heaven). Unfortunately, he didn’t play a main character. There’s an issue when the only actor that pulled off the feel that the movie needed to pull off… was a supporting background character.

Tom Graziani

Despite the acting issue, I did greatly enjoy the story. Some of the graphics and the creatures looked rough, but other graphics and creatures looked really well done. There was a bit of a balance there. None of the rough edges of the less necessary graphics really pulled me out of it, though, so it wasn’t a big deal.

If pressed I’d say JeruZalem was kind of a cross between The Blair Witch Project (1999) and World War Z (2013).

It was a decent film. I’d watch it again.

Cat’s Point of View:

I remember being a bit intrigued by the trailer for this movie prior to its release back in January of this year. While it made Selina’s top 20 list, it didn’t rank on mine. I don’t remember why, to be honest. I do recall that I wasn’t entirely sold on the “Z” in JeruZalem being all about zombies.

What happens in this movie isn’t your typical hordes of shamblers scenario. While it does follow some of the zombie outbreak recipe, it gives a bit of a new twist to it. There was actually a subtle plot in the subtext that gave me chills.

The movie was a bit of a slow starter. I appreciated the character development and the care that was taken in setting up the premise for how the American girls ended up where they did. Unfortunately, that meant that the real action didn’t happen until late in the movie. The bright side to that, though, was that when things hit ludicrous speed; it didn’t feel rushed.

I found the international cast interesting and compelling in their roles. Most of them are relative unknowns – especially stateside. One of the female leads, however, has broken in to the US television scene. Yael Grobglas (The Island, Rabies, Reign) was that singular familiar face for me.

Yael Grobglas

The one thing that kept this movie from having a higher score is the shaky-cam. I appreciate what the film was doing with the first-person perspective – it was just sometimes a bit much. If I were one to get motion sickness from such things, I might’ve been having a real problem. As it was, I felt a bit dizzy at points. This was my main concern that held me back from seeing Hardcore Henry (2015) in the theater. The first-person perspective with that much action going on? Bring on the barf bags.

All told, this was a surprisingly good movie and I wouldn’t have any reservation in recommending it for anyone that can stomach all the shaking.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 57%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 59%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 3/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3.5/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 3/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3.5/5

Movie Trailer: