Ugh. More cheap shocks & thrills in this thoughtless and poorly attempted low production yawner with a plot as appealing as a blocked toilet and a budget almost as small as its brain. Strap yourselves in and get ready for boredom with the dismal Altar.
After buying a house that they’ve never set foot in (exactly like the last review oddly), the Hamiltons are off to spruce up the place, make a new life for themselves, except it’s haunted by its previous occupants and everyone’s forgotten to buy ghost insurance. Don’t people research to see if their property is built on an ancient burial ground anymore?
It’s unreasonable to expect anything particularly artistic or innovative for a TV release, and still this is pretty poor stuff even for its league. The visual control feels so lopsided and unbalanced on screen, suggesting a lack of planning or coordination; and the shockers are preposterous, relying on aggressively jumbled editing, along with dull trumpets and screeching violins.
Performances are a gamble between workable and amateurish; Meg and Alec (Williams and Modine respectively) have their own strengths and talents as individuals, yet fail to meld convincingly as a team or work to a tempo together. This is the film’s most missed opportunity, as they’re clearly confident and comfortable as actors, yet appear as casting flaws all the same.
At rare times, there’s a few ideas toyed with – the painting on the moor scene for instance is unexpected, if somewhat left without expansion. The audio arrangement during the quieter moments isn’t terrible. And a couple of the jump scare parts are designed well enough to at least encourage a sense of discomfort.
And the badly composed framing really lets the show down, with the camera often working from weak and sloppy positions, and occasionally bizarre angles such as right behind props in front of the characters and completely interfering with the setting and the story. Sorry, but some films are left hidden.
3/10
Possession Media 