A spooky and tense horror movie that doesn't really get there in the end.
Broke and new to America, Yacov is part of a support group for Jews new to America. He is invited to be a Shomer for a recently deceased man for $400 so he can make rent. What follows is a movie that reminds one of The Conjuring and Insidious. Frightening monsters and strange demonic presences, hallucinations and eerie visual effect. The atmosphere in this movie is tangible, and there are some great and dramatic camera shots, however the movie overall is lit too poorly to even really see anything. There are scenes that are purposefully shot blurry which sometimes ruins the tension. It started off innocently enough and the tension did build but cheap jump scares really ruined it for me. I also thought that the final battle resolved too easily. The music and sound effects were overbearing and overused. DUNDUN SKREEEEEEE SKREEE. It was all too much. Yacov's backstory is also very very barely explained, which made it feel like it wasn't necessary for anything except to explain the monster's presence. I liked learning about orthodox Jewish myths and religion. I liked that the film was heavily in another language - that is something we don't see often here in Australia and we certainly don't have a strong Jewish subculture.

[spoiler]The film also falls into the - "it's not over" trope in the end, where the character didn't really defeat the evil,[/spoiler]

Anyway I would say it's worth a watch, but maybe once it's on Netflix.

'The Vigil' explores a dark part of history via some fascinating mythology that is underutilised in modern cinema. It's a shame that an interesting concept for supernatural thriller falls victim to the influence of lazy modern horror filmmaking tropes and clichés.
- Jake Watt

Read Jake's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-vigil-a-rare-excursion-into-yiddish-horror

I will admit to feeling just a little uneasy as I walked back to the car after watching this debut from Keith Thomas at 11pm. Dave Davis is "Yakov" who is a bit down on his luck, on some pretty heavy medication, and struggling to get back on track after a fairly traumatic event from his past. A rabbi asks him if will act as a "Shomer" - a person who sits with the deceased to recite prayers and generally ward off any evil before burial. As he watches over the body, the usual spooky things start to happen - lights flicker; things go bump etc; and on that score it's all a pretty routine horror flick; but as his fears start to build, he begins to confront his own demons as much as he must the predatory "Mazzik" that feeds from his fears. Save for a few short appearances from the widow - Lynn Cohen, it's essentially a single-hander and Davis does an OK job - aided by the drearily-lit room and some suitably tense - if frequently over-the-top musical accompaniment. It's not exactly scary - but it's still a decent effort based on a source of legend rarely exploited by Hollywood. Best seen late at night when it's dark outside, I'd say...