Building building building to not much at all

Rating: 6/10 (12 November 2019)

I am a film buff. I usually watch on average one film per day from all types of genres. This film starts off well but it kind of gets lost in the middle. It's a long film at over 2 hours and after the first 45 minutes it settles into a suspenseful middle section. The way it build reminds me of old horror films like Texas Chainsaw or The Cabin in the Woods where there is something out there just beyond view but as a viewer you aren't exposed to exactly what it is. Unfortunately for this film, it's ultimately not much out there hiding. It's as it seems at the 1 hour mark that the villagers are bonkers and we could have got to that conclusion much quicker than dragging out the suspense for an hour and a half. The film also reminds me of the shining in it's pacing. The supporting male characters don't really develop and kind of goof along stupidly. I was hoping for some decent action at the end but it's fairly tame. The ending just kind of goes up in smoke. The film tries to open up some discussion on mental illness, death, grieving, puritanism and paganism but ultimately fails because although we are shown these things they aren't explored deeply or with any sense of conclusion. It's a very well graded and shot film and the visuals help keep the viewer interested over the long film duration. As a viewer I stayed to the end with this slow story but ultimately I wasn't rewarded as a viewer for my attention and the ending fell short. If the director cut 40 minutes from this film then I think it would have been better. There's a lot of repeated dialog, shots and plot points that could be removed. If you are aiming at a slow burn horror like the Shining then there better be blood streaming down the walls and a psycho with a knife. There's no real action or much excitement except for dancing around the may pole high on hallucinogens.