Cathex
You've got two choices,1. Watch, The Shining, a classic horror with great acting, directing and inspired cinematography. Or, 2. You can watch, Altar, which is literally a rip-off of that movie which also manages to misunderstand everything that made that movie brilliant and combines that ignorance with bad acting, bad directing and a poor script.I would leave it there but unfortunately these reviews have to be ten lines minimum, so although I'm tempted to just write...'Ripping off a superior directors work makes Altar a dull movie' ...over and over again, I'll just add this;Some still shots of the Gothic English landscape in this movie are quite nice to look at, but nothing about this film, not even that, is original, and there was no point I can think of that would have justified spending the money to make this motion picture. The money would have been better spent on...well...anything else! So to conclude, before watching Altar, I highly recommend you 'Alter' your mind...eh?...see what I did there?
kosmasp
It doesn't seem to be a clever idea to move into a house which has a disturbing history or a disturbing man who lived there. For one reason or another, people do tend to still go into those places. For one, we wouldn't have those horror movies if they didn't. And sometimes they're pretty decent. Also do not forget, these are just movies.Even if based in "reality" or at least at performances that feel real. The acting is more than decent here, the cast contributes to that, the scares are nicely thrown in there for good measure. They work most of the time and the ending is good in that terms too. You'll see most things coming of course, but that doesn't change the fact that this is watchable
Vivekmaru45
Also watch The Haunting in Connecticut (2009). Back to this film, Altar. The film is about the Hamiltons, a family that moves into a large country house on the Yorkshire Moors to supervise its restoration from a dilapidated B&B to the original Victorian grandeur. Unknown to them, the house is haunted because of the many ritualistic sacrifices conducted on an altar located in the root cellar of the mansion. The spirits of the mansion make themselves known gradually, and when the do, a foreboding sequence of events are set in motion... The only well known actor to me is Mathew Modine(Full Metal Jacket (1987), Pacific Heights (1990), And the Band Played On (1993, HBO Cable)). To me this marks a low-point in his career as an actor. He is a favorite of mine, and I have seen many good films in which he has starred. Opposite him is Olivia Williams(The Postman(1997), Rushmore(1998), The Sixth Sense (1999)) a well known English film, stage and television actress. Williams has a much larger role than Modine in the film - she is the main character of the film. The director Nick Willing, in his directorial feature-film debut, is unconvincing. He handles the subject matter in a drab way. He has directed the film from his own screenplay, and it is either the screenplay which is at fault or the fact that it is unsuitable material for a genuine horror film. The film was a bore. I found my mind wandering to other things - rather than the film I was watching. The actors also are unconvincing. They act just to get the job done and are not involved with the film. This also shows the weakness of the director for not getting more out of these capable actors. The sound effects are inadequate, the special effects are those you see in U.S. TV serials maybe ten or fifteen years ago. The effects do not scare you as most horror films do, nor do they provide atmosphere to the film.More horror movies to see: House on Haunted Hill(1959), The Innocents(1961), The Haunting(1963), Burnt Offerings(1976), The Amityville Horror(1979),The Shining(1980),Poltergeist(1982), Haunted(1995).Thanks for reading, may you live long and prosper.
David Maxx
Altar is really intriguing film, and so far I have watched and felt that true horror within. First to all of my friends out there who know me and how I am it's very difficult to scare someone like me. I am sorry to say that I for one am not easily amused and most of the horrors I watch have an adverse effect on me. Personally after watching some of the horrors in the past such as Omen four I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However the recent one that I saw called Altar was clearly no laughing matter. Far from that I felt reasonably chilled and frightened by the prospect of a sacrificial altar upon which someone died. Altar has captured my interests unlike any other horror movie in the past. Most horror films just rely on scare tactics and all sorts of unnecessary things like ghouls and ghosts. In the horror movie Altar all you need is the haunting presence of one ghost that will soon enough destroy the entire mansion that this family is temporarily living in. I would rate this movie mostly eight out of ten just because I feel like the film should've been a little bit longer.
AD
