What’s It All About
The 1 Sentence Summary of The Vigil
An Orthodox Jewish man that is questioning his faith relieves personal grief while acting as Shomer for a deceased man plagued by a demon who feeds on sorrow and pain.
Cast and Director
Starring Dave Davis and Lynn Cohen, The Vigil has decent acting that helps to move the movie along, especially when the plot starts to flounder. Although the movie was average, it was decent horror film directorial debut from Keith Thomas.
Spoiler Alert
We’d much rather you watch the movie than read some of our favorite and least favorite parts about it. But if you have to know, check out our breakdown below.
So much of The Vigil is set in an oppressively dark atmosphere. Unfortunately, this hurt some parts of the film but, in the beginning, really helped to set the stage for the initial scenes. When Yacov Ronen (Dave Davis) enters the Litvak house for the first time, you can almost feel the darkness. Combined with Mrs. Litvak’s (Lynn Cohen) odd behavior, this really set the tone for the movie.
Of course the only person to really like and care for in the film Yacov Ronen (Dave Davis). His personal tragedy (although a bit cliche in the genre) is relatable and the sadness that consumes him is probably his most defining trait.
When Yacov Ronen (Dave Davis) is mid-shift as shomer, Mrs. Litvak (Lynn Cohen) enters the scene in a creepy fashion to tell him that her husband was haunted by his past. Shortly after, she disappears into the dark and Yacov ventures into the basement where a video of the deceased Mr. Litvak is playing. While he is watching the film, he sees Mrs. Litvak in the film mouthing the words, “Behind You”. He turns his head and is in the presence of the demon that is tormenting Mr. Litvak.
The overall darkness of the movie was too much. It would have been so much better to see more of the demon terrorizing the Litvaks, but we only see it a few times. Would have been much better, and scarier, to actually see the demon. The other odd part of the film was the redemption of the dead man. Really, that could have been omitted. The back story maybe could have been shared in the beginning and then focus on the demon now attaching itself to Yacov.
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Summary
Scare Critics Say: WORTH A WATCH
Scare Critic Review
The Vigil could have been better, and it teeters on IF YOU'RE DESPERATE and WORTH A WATCH. It has some redeeming qualities like the use of Jewish mythology as the primary demon. Overall, the film aesthetic was too dark and hid too much of what could have been scarier. With few scares other than bumps in the night, the film leaves a lot to be desired.
Scares Breakdown
- Jump Scares
- Isolation
- Psychological Torture
Good
- Unique storyline
- Interesting use of Jewish mythology
- Atmosphere/setting
- Memorable demon
Bad
- Don't see enough of the demon
- Backstory for main character cliche
- Missing the connection to the character
- Odd redemption of the deceased
- Sometimes darkness used in film to hide obvious lack of scares
