TEMPLE

EXCESSIVE EDITING

Film review by Fiore

OVERALL:

Ever watch a movie, and at the conclusion, write down on your notebook whiskey tango foxtrot?  Well, if you’re not a critical, I guess not, but that is exactly what I did after watching TEMPLE.  This movie went South so fast I nearly suffered whiplash. 

An American-Japanese production, the film begins as a commonplace horror flick.  Three travelers wish to visit various temples during a vacation in Japan. Despite warnings from practically everyone else in the film, the trio opt to visit the one temple plagued by ghosts.  Six young children disappeared at the temple, and though the monk at the temple insisted on his innocence, the villagers hanged him anyway.  Now, the spirits of both the children and the monk haunt the place.

 

PLOT:

James and Kate, Brandon Sklenar and Natalia Warner respectively, are lovers and on their first trip together in Japan.  For this trip, Kate brings along her childhood friend, Chris, played by Logan Huffman.  He recently had a nervous breakdown and Kate thinks the trip could be just what he needs.  As a bonus, Chris can speak Japanese.  James is skeptical of Chris and vice versa.  So, before the ghosts even appear, there is a tense situation between our protagonists.

During a shopping spree, the trio finds a rare book offering details to a haunted temple.  Kate wants to visit it.  The bookkeeper, a patron at a bar, a stranger on the street and a host of others warn them not to go to the temple because terrible things have happened there.  Of course, Chris is the only one who understands the tales and he doesn’t reveal them to his comrades.

Once the trio find the temple, viewers are treated to the ghosts of the monk, the six children, a demon guarding the temple and a few other creatures who drop in just for the hell of it, pun intended.

 

PARTICULARS:

To this point, TEMPLE sounds like a typical template Indie horror film.  So, what goes wrong?  First, scriptwriter Simon Barrett fumbles the ball during the second act.  The story bogs down while the conflict between the three heroes,  is underdeveloped, and the supernatural elements recede to obscurity.  When the story retracts, events occur so quickly they are confusing.  What exactly happens to Kate, and why?  Who kills James, and why?  Where does Chris go, and why?  Was the monk truly evil, or innocent as he claimed?  All these remain unanswered, no end credit scenes to offer explanations.

It is rare for me to say this, but editors Micah Stuart and Sean Valla may have cut too much from the movie.  Usually, I’m calling for shorter films, but this is the exception to the rule.  Clocking in at 78 minutes, TEMPLE sacrifices quality for brevity.

REPORT CARD:

ACTING = D

CINEMATOGRAPHY = C

SOUND/MUSIC = C

EDITING = D

LIGHTING = D

SCRIPT = F

SFX = B

ACTION = D

 

SUMMARY: 

TEMPLE while it is formulaic, has potential, but never realizes it’s potential. The film becomes so disoriented in the final reel as to make the preceding scenes moot. Star Natalia Warner is a looker and the camera loves her, but her on screen allure is all TEMPLE has to offer.

 

REWATCHABLE INDEX:  NONE