It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

THE SHRINE is a Canadian horror film set in Poland. To begin with the plot is nothing special, involving the usual trio of American tourists abroad who find themselves in trouble when they stumble upon a grove containing an ancient shrine that has something evil about it. The second half of the film gets a little more interesting by skewing the usual angles and builds to an impressively high octane climax.The problem with this film is the lack of budget. There isn't much money to go around so the director substitutes noise with quality. This is one of the noisiest horror films I can remember watching and particularly at the climax it gets very headache-inducing. Plus the usual EXORCIST clichés are played out again which is a bit wearying. On the plus side, there's some very graphic gore in this film and it's nasty stuff indeed, wince-inducing in places. Shawn Ashmore's twin brother Aaron stars.

Most of today's horror films are tepid at best. Originality is hard to come by. Picked this one out on Netflix, hoping for the best. Got way more than expected. The Shrine is highly recommended.A determined journalist, her boyfriend and a young intern travel to Europe in search of a story involving tourist's who, over a period of years, disappear under similar circumstances. A journal written by the latest missing tourist leads the trio to a small Polish village that harbors a fog enshrouded secret. The village inhabitants will go to deadly means to keep the secret hidden from outsiders. What follows as the trio unknowingly fall prey to their journalistic instincts will have you on the edge of your seat.This is one smart, well paced and intriguing piece of horror. The characters are full dimensional. The plot unfolds at a crisp and believable pace. Rarely does this one resort to jump scares. The horror comes from a sense of ever building dread. Lighting is key to unnerving the senses. The violence and bloodshed on display never panders to the gore hounds. After viewing this one, I took a few moments and pondered what I would have done differently had I found myself in similar circumstances. So few of today's horror films generate that type of reaction. When I plan a European vacation, I will avoid Polish villages out in the woods at all cost's.

A powerful horror film that features a stunningly moving performance by Aaron Ashmore and which is imaginatively directed by John Knautz. This motion picture is dark and disturbing, its atmospheric angst benefiting dramatically from what appears to be authentic Polish locations. When crazed fanatics from a insane Polish cult threaten the lives of an innocent group of tourists, the results are horrific, suspenseful, and unrelentingly awful in what is a very good horror film indeed. The imagery of the forest in the fog is especially haunting and the environment of Poland is simply chilling in itself. Flawed but well done movie of superior quality.

Aside from the first 10-15 minutes, there was no plot to speak of, only gore. I was never scared and ceased being startled, or interested, very early on. The fact that the majority of the film has a spoken language other than English - and no translation - only added to my disengagement. Why should I care what is going on if the filmmakers don't bother to tell me? I wonder if they didn't know, either - maybe it was simpler just to have a bunch of dialogue in a foreign language than deal with pesky details like character development and storyline. Wrapping things up in a neat little package in the last 5 minutes doesn't make up for the previous 45 minutes of senselessness.I don't understand all of the positive ratings. How could anyone think this was a clever, well-done horror movie? I'm at a loss.