Jeruzalem (2015) User Reviews

Annoying first person view and lots of questions

[lukasbaehler · 4/10 · 12 July 2016]

The most annoying thing about this movie is that it is filmed through "smart glasses" (they are basically google glasses) of the main character. Now, i personally love well done found-footage horror movies but this is just plain annoying. e.g. voice recognition turns on randomly and starts playing music during an intense scene... yeah, as stupid as is sounds, it happens.

Until a good portion of the movie is over we learn absolutely nothing of interest to the main plot. And even after the movie we know so little about what actually happened.

The plot goes like this: Two girls go on vacation in Jeruzalem. They have fun there and meet two nice guys. One of them starts having a bit of a bad feeling blah blah blah. Suddenly we see fighter jets bombarding the town and the a long long escape follows. All we know is that basically judgment day is about to happen. That's it.

There are only very few monster encounters. All of them except one don't feel creepy one bit, unfortunately.

I think the premise of the movie is decent but badly chosen first person view and a long hysteric escape makes this movie not really worth to watch.

Found (Jeruzalem) Footage

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 1 August 2016]

I'm not the biggest fan of found footage. But this movie actually has some very fine moments, though most of them come towards the end. There is your typical American student type of vacation seeking characters who are way in over their head. Also doing a lot of things wrong (you know the whole "don't go into that house" thing, where for no apparent reason at all people do actually go in ...).

But then again, if you didn't have characters do stupid things, would we have a movie? Would there be evil that had to be succumbed? Probably not, but how does that help the viewer feeling anything for those characters? That's a tough one to answer and something only you can answer for yourself. If you can overlook the flaws there is a decent horror movie in there somewhere ...

Big promises. Small results.

[plucsenecal · 5/10 · 22 July 2015]

This could have been a great movie. Yes, the synopsis might sound corny, but the potential was there for something dark, mysterious, subtle and of course creepy as hell. The Google Glass thing worked for me (although it might annoy some), as did movies in the same "genre" like CloverField and Creep. If you've been to Jerusalem, you'll get memories coming back at you during this movie. Lots of beautiful footage. Apart from that, the movie lost me with its inconsistencies, lack of balance, superficial take on the Jewish mythology and a storyline which was either gimmicky or not credible.

From the start, we could feel the storyline was forced with the intro and the numerous signs that announced Jerusalem was going down with a boom. The visuals were nothing exceptional, and the Paz Brothers could've achieved much more with less demons. A giant? Really?

The characters' action often left me bemused, with the IDF straying away from their mission to escort a girl in the asylum (not happening in real life, ever.) Omar killing himself (pretty pointless), the soldiers NOT shooting the demons, psycho-David hiding under a table... Also, it felt like the main character was either calling out names, crying or saying : "I'm sorry", which made her more annoying than anything else, although I suspect she hardly had any help from the script, which is nothing to write home about.

The lost brother storyline added very little to the movie, beside getting a guy blowing his opportunity at getting head (pun intended), a crying scene and a funny joke at the Western Wall. It could have been easily left out, had it not intervene at the very end, in a manner that was simply uncalled for.

Finallt, the movie left me asking for more, with an ending that wanted itself shocking, but fell short of the terror this movie was promising.

film would have been OK if it wasn't for Sarah

[vernonw70 · 3/10 · 29 January 2016]

This movie had so much potential. The premise was OK, if not just a bit too convoluted. And there wasn't very much explanation, so you're kind of disjointed. It was almost like there were two different directors for the first and second halves. It seemed to be going in the right direction, but then just went from bad to worse. I believe if they would have just killed off Sarah at the beginning of the movie, then things would have been alright. Every other character was likable,and not a douche like Sarah, but instead we had to suffer through the whole movie with this needy, snivelling, annoying, I'm gonna get everybody killed because that's what I do, character. I couldn't even enjoy the film because I had to fast-forward through all of her whining, self-righteous bull-crap. So that was pretty much the whole movie. Thanks a lot Sarah. If you can stand a character like that and have some time to kill, then go for it. Otherwise, don't regret it like I did, and find another movie.

A Massive Letdown

[karlsaville · 3/10 · 25 January 2016]

Such a disappointment for a film that started so well. I liked the Google Glass POV concept - much more believable than lugging an open laptop or a video camera around, and the early glimpses of the bat-winged demons of the apocalypse was excellently done. The characters developed nicely, the acting was quite acceptable (despite Yon Tumarkin's wooden and unconvincing contribution), and Jerusalem beautifully shot.

Just a pity that the director had to go and spoil that magnificent build-up by unaccountably jamming in ever single one of the most ridiculous found-footage and horror movie tropes you could think of.

• The lunatic rescue mission to the darkened insane asylum (I kid you not!).

• The cracked camera lense for that really cool disjointed and shattered film look.

• The inexplicable insistence on dragging a bitten and obviously infected friend along with you.

• The absurd crying and screaming in the dark and dangerous tunnels where silence is essential.

Have these people never SEEN a horror movie before? It's like they're DETERMINED to die.

I just couldn't make it to the end - giving up on the film after 15 minutes of unwatchable dark, broken footage as they crawled through the cave of the demon bat beasts. All I could think was "won't this mewling woman EVER shut up?". I do hope she got eaten.

What a waste!

Good Idea. Bad Characters.

[saccool · 2/10 · 22 August 2017]

The only reason I give this movie two stars instead of one is because the directors and writers had a good plot and good settings throughout the movie. The movie started out great and the concept was fantastic.

The main character was terrible! She was an annoying character from the start when she chased the boy down the alley, fell down the stairs and just sat there whining. I had no sympathy for her the entire movie, especially when she insisted everyone stop heading to safety so she could rescue a guy she had just met. She is the idiot character that is supposed to die at the beginning of a horror film and instead they decided to make her the main character. If they had made her a smarter, savvier girl then this movie would have been fantastic.

Warning: After the monsters show, all you can here is her whining and crying.

Almost .....doesn't count

[akira-hideyo · 6/10 · 26 January 2016]

Generally, enjoyed the movie. Has great potential. The storyline and concept of the movie are originally creative, interesting and pretty exciting. CGI is not bad. A visually well made movie. The ONLY con for me is the lead actress, Sarah. Her constant whiny nature seriously irritates me to no end and drives me toward the crying wall-pun intended. If they can tighten the acting and hasten the urgency, the movie would have had scored. I gave it a 6 cos it's a pretty good movie; I was annoyed by the acting but was not bored. Kept me interested throughout. Very good scenic look into the sacred city. This is kinda like Blair Witch Project on weed (chill mode) but done with wearable i-Lens. Shalom!

disappointed

[Stararmour · 5/10 · 25 January 2016]

Jeruzalem (2015) started off decently, and i will echo some of the other reviewers in saying that the footage of the city itself is beautiful (i really want to go to Jerusalem now!), but apart from the obviously pretty scenery, there isn't very much going on. the back-story is hinted at, the character development is sub-par (leaving the viewer unaffected by their happy/ sad fates), and the creatures/ demons look way more promising in the trailer than in the movie itself.

All in all, the investment this movie demands is nominal, leaving me very 'meh' at the end. oh, the only response that sticks is annoyance at the main protagonist's stupidity (constant sobbing/ screaming type). Also, how long does it take someone to figure where to aim?!

major disappointment. :/

Good movie that starts 45 minutes in.

[berg-74532 · 7/10 · 4 June 2021]

The problem that people who aren't anti Semitic have, because it's easy to pick those reviews out, is the first 45 minutes is a Google glasses commercial but after you get past the longest product placement in movie history it is good scary and pretty unique. To save you that 45 minutes here's what you need to know. Two attractive late teen early adult women go on spring break to Israel and do exactly what people that age do in that situation one girl meets a guy on the plane the other meets a local who's family owns the hotel they stay in. The non local man has feelings of impeding doom and is put into the hospital because he's acting crazy. There you go I saved you 45 minutes. Better movie than most of this type and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Signed up just to review this and save you time you can't get back.

[jeremywtfbbqsauce · 1/10 · 27 January 2016]

If I could give this a lower score, I would. The entire story is told from the viewpoint of a spoiled rich girl's google glass, in the vein of a "found footage" type format. Absolutely nothing to do with the story happens until about 47 minutes into the film. From the cheesy fake accents from "Indiana" to the cringe worthy dialogue, there is seriously absolutely nothing redeemable about this film. I stopped watching at one point because of how much I hated everything about this film and came back to it later to finish it.

Save yourself the time and the headache, avoid this piece of crap film at all costs.

Decent horror movie

[steven-loontjens-94-440406 · 8/10 · 4 November 2016]

This movie gets too much bad reviews so I want to counter it with my review... this is a great horror movie, decently build up, good special effects (those winged creatures are creepy as hell) and the acting wasn't too bad either. Jerusalem is a great setting for a movie about resurrection and judgement day, with three of the main religions being together in that single city. A few little mistakes and a few predictable twists but apart from that, it's a movie to enjoy in a dark room... Cloverfield-style! I wasn't sure about this title but now I'm sure to add it to my collection because of the frightening moments. 8/10 so watch this one!

above mediocre

[trashgang · 6/10 · 22 November 2016]

Jeruzalem is a kind of found footage flick were things go awfully wrong when the underworld breaks free in Jeruzalem. It reminded me of flicks like Cloverfield (2008) and As Above So Below (2014).

It take a while before the horror comes in so before that we do follow two girls who are on a trip together but do meet a guy and together they decide to go to Jerusalem. So the first part we do see them going out and visit Jerusalem. Of course they are out for sex and things all do work out fine until two fighterplanes are flying over Jerusalem and do drop a bomb.

From that point things go wrong for the gang. Is it gory, not really it's pure suspense in a creepy atmosphere. It's all filmed from the smartglasses from one of the girls. When the demons do attack it's all a bit blurry and shaky but for me it did work out fine. But I can understand that some people aren't into those kind of horrors.

A bit too much of sightseeing and partying going on in the beginning but once the attack starts it's okay. Maybe for some the Nephilim are a bit over the top but luckily they aren't the main thing.

Worth seeing if you are into found footage flicks.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

The sight of Jerusalem might be pleasing, but the premise is as old as the archaic city and not even the new installment of glasses can rejuvenate the tired gimmick.

[quincytheodore · 5/10 · 26 January 2016]

Regardless of one's faith, almost everyone can agree that Jerusalem possesses a strikingly beautiful view. Using it as the setting is already a surefire way to enhance visual and it's the best feature of "Jeruzalem". It also opts for smart glass gimmick which can be a nifty addition at times, however the first person endeavor in horror genre is a bland and tired one, a spectacle many others of its peer has done better.

The magnificent environment pays dividend early on, it instantly produces more scenic atmosphere than other mockumentary. One can make a family video of the place and it would still look pretty captivating, but adding horror segment is another matter entirely. The on-screen characters are team of painstakingly predictable tourists and a couple of equally unremarkable locales.

On the course of the trial, they will bump into stereotypical corny situations such as quarantine zone, giant monster appearing out of nowhere and "who's bitten" accusations. Nearly everything has been done before and in greater quality. A few of its original scenes are incredibly stupid, showing a mentally disturbed man running around in biblical costume, riding a bike or mumbling incoherently in close up or at precarious time.

After the promise of the great city and its opening premonition scene, it utterly falls down in usual dark alleys, literally in caves with shaking motion. It's hard to form relationships with the characters since they often react over zealously or trying too hard to fit themselves in the mold of overused dramatization of horror genre. It becomes tiresome at the latter half rather than inspiring.

The choice of vista is splendid, it might have been a nice ad for gadget too, but as far as horror goes, it's merely an average showing.

This is not an horror movie, it's a really bad movie.

[Paulo_Clemente · 3/10 · 19 May 2016]

Two young American girls fly to Israel to visit TelAviv, on the plane they know Kevin and decide to stay in Jeruzalem. After some fun strange things start to happen.

Well this is supposed to be a horror movie, but it's not, is far from that, it's strange, and it does not scar you, on the other hand it will probably annoy you and disappoint you.

All the movie is seeing through Sarah special glasses , and the choice was bad at all levels, she's really annoying , always stupid choices, bad decisions and hysterical, OK I understand in stress you can make bad decisions, you can be nervous , but Sarah push all limits, you can try but you will not sympathize with her and by the way the acting is also not good.

The idea behind the movie is not bad , but it ends in a bad movie . I feel i lost 85 minutes of my life watching this.

Not bad, could have been great

[charles-71224 · 5/10 · 9 April 2016]

First of all I think some reviews are a tad harsh! I thought the idea was good and the whole google glasses idea gave a point of view film with a bit more camera stability than the usual 'found footage' types. As mentioned in other reviews the shots of the city are excellent and I found the film to be well paced. Although not original the plot was a bit different to the usual horrors we now seem to get by the dozen (killer dolls, demented spirits etc) and although the baddies are demons it's still not too religious and preachy which I liked. Major problem here is Sarah. If you like sniffling, whining, wounded heart types then this is your girl! She also falls over........a lot. Why do horrors have to have the blubbering pathetic little women who grunts and sobs loudly when in situations of impending doom that require a little hush?! OK the film has faults but as a cheap frills, couple of hours to kill it's worth a try

Another Cheap Film with Awful Camera Work and Storyline

[claudio_carvalho · 2/10 · 5 July 2016]

The American and best friends Rachel Klein (Yael Grobglas) and Sarah Pullman (Danielle Jadelyn) decide to travel to Tel Aviv to have fun. In the flight, they meet Kevin Reed (Yon Tumarkin) that invites them to go to Jerusalem. They accept the invitation and they check in the hostel of the local Omar (Tom Graziani). Sarah and Rachel date Kevin and Omar respectively and they go to a nightclub together. When they return to the hostel, they find that Jerusalem is under siege of the army and curfew and no one can leave the place that is under attack of demons.

"Jeruzalem" is another cheap film with awful camera work and storyline. After the original "The Blair Witch Project", filmmakers have found this nasty way of making cheap and low quality films using the "found footage" genre instead of learning how to use a camera. The acting is annoying with countless stupid attitudes and situations. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Jeruzalem"

It was okay

[tmdarby · 6/10 · 17 March 2016]

Jeruzalem was not a bad movie, but I found it disappointing because it had the potential to be really good.

The story was a really interesting take on the apocalypse, yet it lacked in explanation of the event. They could have spent a little less time on the Americans partying and a little more time on furthering the plot. It was however not a bad story.

I liked the films portrayal of the main "villains". The acting was fairly good. I also found the small streets and atmosphere added to the creepiness of the movie.

So now for the down side. The found footage type style often gets used just to keep down costs and makes no sense in the story. In this story however they do make sense of why the main character is using the smart glasses. So that was a great job on the part of the writers. However, somehow the glasses with the first person kind of feel really made the movie kind of annoying, even more so than the found footage camera style. Too much bouncing around and it's hard to focus on anything.

All in all, not a bad movie, but could have been so much better.

Jesus Christ

[beatriz-silva · 5/10 · 6 January 2020]

Really cool concept but Sarah is so annoying it kills the movie

Fair Movie

[manansalareivyn · 6/10 · 27 January 2016]

There are some things that I would like to point out:

1. Story. The story was good but there are some elements missing like how it all began and why does it happen so suddenly and what is the connection between the 3 religions and Sarah's brother to the events. also, a cliché. anyway, there are too many questions.

2. Real life application. why would you join a stranger you met on an airplane? I mean seriously. The Main characters panic too much. The MC(Sarah) also is dumb like choosing feelings over safety and when you're supposed to be quiet to make it much more safe, you make a lot of noise instead. We all know that soldiers must protect the unarmed right? but they didn't do much. They won't even shoot.

3. Characters and acting. The characters were okay. some of them are annoying especially the Sarah.

4. Camera and effects. It was a POV or First person view which gave the audience a feeling of what it is like to experience those kind of events. The effects were a little bit of meh. There is a scene that looks like king kong or whatever. The monsters looks like ugly fairies with wings that only flies at the end. no one knows why.

The movie could of been better

[mssanon · 3/10 · 29 January 2016]

The thing that bother me the most about this movie is the main character. Throughout the movie I wanted the main character Sarah to be killed off. I was so happy what happened at the end. Her constant crying, whining, yelling bothered me. Her acting was horrible. She did not make some moments in the film believable. Her dumb choices in the movie is what made me dislike her character. It's like she wanted to die. I like her best friend character and acting. She probably would of played the main character better. One more thing about the movie, it was not scary at all. There was not a moment in the film where it made me want to pee in my pants.

Movie for Reflection

[alphaborealis · 10/10 · 16 February 2016]

Full of mystery, Jeruzalem is no ordinary horror movie " cliché " , its a movie to reflect on deeper issues that go far beyond the zombies and monsters that appear in most horror movies. Jeruzalem is movie whose scenario and plot was chosen and developed with perfection and attention to the local religious stories and, no doubt, is an invitation to reflect about the importance of faith and respect, regardless of religion and culture. The dated events, the use of technological mechanisms , the facility has been carefully crafted for a viewer's immersion in the historical part of the film and certainly makes us want to watch again and again . You can expect many surprises in this film including the fact that, our concepts of life begin to have a greater range after this movie . is very worthwhile seeing but , paying too much attention on details and teachings.

It was fine!

[Patient444 · 7/10 · 27 January 2016]

Let me start out by saying this: I like the movie! I was a little impressed, I think it did fine, so if you decide to read more, this is from the point of view of a horror maniac that actually enjoyed Jeruzalem.

The movie is a combination between World War Z, REC and Cloverfield, it succeed on every level, good plot, good acting, nice tension, fine scares, so I graded it a 7! If some find it too high, tough, and Buhuhu, I got pretty much all I expect from a horror. A worthy execution, a plot that thickens, and a direction that I did not expect.

This year in January alone I've managed to put my eyes on some better horror productions, which gives me high hopes indeed! Let's see what else is out there.

Cheers!

Same old low budget hack

[shreeree · 2/10 · 3 February 2016]

First of all a sure fire sign a film sucks is when it's done in first person cam. So you know it's going to be as stupid as the decisions made by the one who has the cam.

Secondly, when you have spoiled childish "nothing will ever happen to me" wealthy princesses who must have missed every article, movie, and documentary about "how to remain a safe female in a foreign country" then crappy stuff bound to happen sooner or later. I mean these girls choose to do all the things every guidebooks warns you not to do. You the viewer will spend a lot of time rolling your eyes and mumbling, "idiots" and "some one please steal this half-wit girl glasses cam and save us all".

Thirdly, you have no sympathy for key characters because it all could have been avoided if they just went on the trip they planned they might have been lying on a beach somewhere. Why them, with with their promiscuous behavior wanted to go to the most religious city in the country to follow a stranger for a hookup will leave you shaking your head. What the hell was they thinking? To think these two young girls went to another country to go to a place you didn't research for your vacation and hook up with MEN, not some girls that could assure you a better chance of safety, but MEN they knew nothing about.

These girls were doomed even if the gates of hell hadn't opened because of their own stupidity. I spent more time being frightened by their actions in a strange country at the beginning of the film, than I was by the demons that finally show up.

Watch at your own waste of time and don't say I didn't warn you.

If there's nothing else to watch whatsoever...

[fialynnchar · 5/10 · 28 January 2016]

Oh boy, where to begin. Spoilers abound.

If you keep the expectations to a minimum, you won't be disappointed. It starts off with an impressive nod to Google Glass (now, I actually want one) and a brief description of the basic characters. For about the first 20 to 30 minutes of the film, there's really nothing too exciting.

There was nothing unique or interesting about any of the characters. In fact, I can't remember any of their names. They could have elaborated on any of their backstories to at least give them SOME substance. We get it. They're young and they want to party. That's only been done about a gazillion times in every other "cam" movie out there.

When they FINALLY get to where they're going, the movie starts to get interesting. They mention something called the Jerusalem Syndrome which as it so happens is actually a real thing. (I looked it up. Hey, you learn something new every day, right?)

Chaos ensues and the 'plot', if you want to call it that, finally picks up some steam. (I'd say that steam was more like the puff of a teapot but steam nonetheless.) The CGI and special effects weren't all that spectacular. At some points where the demons were running abound, our characters didn't act particularly shocked, shaken and in soiled drawers.

They could have really taken this movie to great places but as I've already mentioned, the preview turned out to be better than the movie itself. I actually bet my kid that at the end, we'd find out that this whole thing was about one of the characters experiencing Jerusalem Syndrome. That would have been a much better ending -- just my opinion. (Considering the twist ending is just as played out as partying young adults, that should tell you something).

The best part of the movie was learning about Jerusalem Syndrome and of course, the scenery of the city itself was SPECTACULAR. This, in my humble opinion are the movie's only redeeming qualities.

If there's a sequel, there's going to have to be some better special effects and dialog to make it worth the watch.

Utter and complete waste of a good premise.

[frankblack-79961 · 3/10 · 13 September 2020]

To the Paz Brothers. WTF is wrong with you? You had a great idea and premise for this film and managed to turn it into a disgrace on multiple levels. POV was a good idea but you added all kinds of things to the smartglasses pov that they don't even do. You write a moan charachter that we have to listen to the entire film that is a whiney, stupid hysterical stereotype of a woman that is one of the most cringe worthy I have seen in years. You cant wait for her to die so she would just STFU! Ridiculous soldiers who get killed because they do things like turn there back on a demon they are trying to kill because the want to argue? Almost every charachter in this film makes choices no one would to drive the plot because you were too lazy to put some thought into your situations that moved the plot line forward. Next time you feel like blowing a whole bunch of money on garbage like this maybe get the opinion of someone with an intelligence level higher than a teenager. You might actually make a movie worth watching.