Director
Keith Thomas

Starring
Dave Davis, Lynn Cohen, Menashe Lustig and Malky Goldman

If you’re a real horror buff, you’ve probably started to get a tinge of excitement when you see the ‘Blumhouse Productions’ stamp on any new release. The film company that has in recent years brought us classics like Get Out, Insidious, The Invisible Man and Happy Death Day has become synonymous for mind-bending thrills. Unfortunately for every Paranormal Activity, there’s a Fantasy Island, and in the case of The Vigil we’re a little closer to the latter than the former titles.

The synopsis is a promising one; Yakov, a former member of the Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish community is paid to perform the role of Shomer for a recently deceased member of the active community. A Shomer is essentially a spiritual watchman who sits with a body to protect it from desecration prior to burial. Whilst undertaking his role as Shomer, Yakov starts to experience strange and malevolent happenings throughout the deceased man’s home. The man’s widow soon explains that he has become the latest victim of the mazik (a Jewish demon) who had attached itself to her late husband during the Holocaust.

From that you’re probably thinking ‘cool, it’s like a Jewish Exorcist’, and it certainly had all the potential to be just that. Unfortunately the delivery is a little too flat to really pack a punch. The frights in this one are very formulaic, and the atmosphere is too dark and consistent throughout that it doesn’t allow any suspense to really build. The story itself lacked development; Yakov has experienced great trauma in his life, and that’s barely touched on. In fact most of the reasons for this mazik attachment go largely unexplored. There is a rich history and curiosity around the subject matter, but the writers don’t really want to do more than scratch the surface.

The performances throughout are solid, Dave Davis is fantastic at bringing range to Yakov’s experiences, and Lynn Cohen in one of her final roles has managed to be perfectly creepy as the mysterious widow. If utilized to their full extent, this certainly could have been a horror masterpiece, but instead we’ll have to settle for a good, but not great time filler.

2.5 Stars

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