A story of revenge from beyond the grave!
One night a group of bored teenagers decide to spend time in a dusty basement while their parents are upstairs having a party and getting drunk. Well! That's a first! Moving on, they decide to mess around with a Ouija board for some good ol' fashion, creepy fun. The teens get in contact with a spirit named Jonah who informs them that he died by being poisoned by his wife. The teens think it's completely innocent and just a game, except for one who takes the Ouija board very serious. The friends summon Jonah and unfortunately for them all, they succeed! Jonah rises from the dead and slaughter the teens one by one. To avoid major spoilers, I'll stop right there!
Jonah Lives is an independent horror, so majority of the scenes are limited to the basement with a few scenes elsewhere. I, personally, did not mind that. I felt that the director worked with what he had. The plot was simple and because of that it reminded me of an 80s horror. I was very surprised with the development of the characters as well as the decent special effects. There were plenty of scenes that happened that reminded me of some of my favorite 80s horrors. It was really awesome that Brinke Stevens made an appearance!
I only have two complaints about the film; the random rap song in the film. I don't feel like the song fit with the film whatsoever. It was like it was randomly placed in the film due to the director because he wanted to be nice to one of his friends who works at the bank in the day and raps at night. The other thing is I never understood was why Jonah was seeking revenge. Perhaps I missed his reasoning but being that he rises from the dead and all I thought he'd had a reason. It was also weird that Jonah goes straight to the basement where the teenagers were instead of the party. It was very disappointing that Jonah didn't slaughter the people who were upstairs partying! I was waiting on that.
As far as it goes with the acting, I thought it was OK, however it is an independent film. One of the two girls in the film whined a lot and it was annoying but after a while I just tuned her out. However, I liked the characters because they weren't too typical, they weren't dumb, which was refreshing! As far as it goes with with the make up, I thought it was excellent! Jonah kind of reminded me of Dr. Fraudstein from Lucio Fulci's House By the Cemetery.
Overall, Jonah Lives isn't the best film and it does has it flaws, however, I was entertained. This film has an eerie atmosphere with a great score that reminds me of Italian 80s horror. Due to that I'd definitely check out any other film by the director! I'd even be in one of his films if invited!
I recommend this film to independent horror film lovers. Plus the director Luis Carvalho always dreamed to be a filmmaker and he is living his dream! How can you knock him? He wrote and directed this film! Awesome.
2½ out 5queen skulls!
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