Most of what Yoav and Doron Paz offer movie goers in their horror film JeruZalem feels re-gifted.  We’ve seen this sort of panicked science fiction in films before – from tent-pole thrillers like Cloverfield to foreign imports like [REC].  While that may sound like the “jaded critic” side transforming me as one of the film’s demons would, I feel like I have a legitimate argument.

As time goes on, audiences are going to start seeing repeats.  Why do you think Hollywood is so interested in remaking past projects and giving them a new face?  At this point in time, this critic has come to terms with the unfortunate inevitable.  However, what I still believe in is the idea of filmmakers kicking the same can in a new way.

Here’s an example using JeruZalem’s most memorable strength: the Paz’s are given the task of making a found footage-esque horror.  To give the film a fitting perspective, we see everything through the eyes of a Google Glass device.  We still question the durability of the glasses, how they stay so snug on the operator’s head while they run, and the selectivity of its services (notably the convenient face recognition tool), but we can go along with this form of narrative because it’s inventive.  It’s a way for filmmakers to finally manoeuvre through other obstacles in the sub-genre.

By the halfway point, after the directors/screenwriters have laid out their groundwork, JeruZalem starts feeling very familiar.  The Paz’s even find a way for the peril to wind up in a dishevelled, ruined hospital where unstable patients ramble and reach through the door from their padded room.  We soon find ourselves on the run through stretched corridors, stairwells and caverns, while our protagonists start to turn on each other as they fight off an infection as well as the evil that provides it.

JeruZalem is above average with a clever ending and some likeable leading performances from Yael Grobglas and Danielle Jadelyn, but because the Paz brothers don’t build off of their inspirations, the movie appears as a knockoff.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie