The Crucifixion is a horror film directed by Xavier Gens. The plot follows reporter Nicole, (Sophie Cookson), a woman without faith, who travels to Romania to cover an exorcism gone wrong that resulted in the death of a young woman. Nicole wants to prove that it was superstition and mental illness that motivated the murder, but when she arrives, she finds out there might be far more afoot.
When I put this film on, I was worried it would be just like every other possession horror film out there, the genre has been done to death, however I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had enough originality to standout. For a start the premise of the film an investigation into whether possession is in fact real, is something that hasn’t been done to death yet, there is still new ground to be found and this film found it.
Moreover, it is nice to see a possession film focusing on Orthodox Christianity, rather than Catholicism. It adds a nice new flavour to the type of film, and as such is infinitely more interesting. The country of Romania is one of my favourites in the world and it is nice to see a horror film set there, it is a beautiful country and also a very mystical one which really adds to the atmosphere of the film.
The scares of the film are a mixed bag, when the film is trying to be creepy and using its setting and atmosphere to make you feel uneasy it works, it works very well. However, when the film uses cheap jump scares reminiscent of the bastard spin-off Conjuring films it doesn’t work, they are laughably bad and incredibly obvious.
Overall, this is a good possession film with enough newness to it that it stands out from the thousands of other films like it. There is something special about this film, it is a shame it went under most people’s radars when it came out, but it is defiantly worth a watch. The jump scares ruin the scenes they are in, but everything else is unique and interesting.
Pros.
The horror.
The setting.
Changes from the genre standard.
Interesting plot line.
Cons.
Jump scares.
4.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 