The Veil (2016) Review

Twenty-five years after members of a religious cult committed mass suicide, the lone survivor returns to the scene of the tragedy with a documentary crew in tow.

Director: Phil Joanou; Writer: Robert Ben Garant (screenplay; Stars: Jessica Alba, Lily Rabe, Thomas Jane

Director Phil Joanou has had some early success in film making starting with the the band U2's hugely successful Rattle and Hum video. He went on to direct irish mob film State of Grace with Sean Penn, Ed Harris, and Gary Oldman, and even directed Richard Gere and Dwayne Johnson in mildly successful films. So what exactly brought him to his first foray into horror is hard to determine. I wouldn't say its a down hill project given Thomas Jane and Jessica Alba's involvement. Also, as far as cult/ghost movies, its a pretty fresh concept. Then of course we add a screenplay by Garant, best known for his comedic role as Deputy Travis Junior in Reno 911 and writing credits that include Night at the Museum, you can't help but be confused at tis unlikely combination of experiences presenting a horror film. Fortunately we've learned that a comedians involvement in horror has often lead to decent films. There's obviously something about this pairing that attracted Jason Blum and given that endorsement alone we at the Creepercast are likely to dive into it without many questions. We usually discovery Blumhouse runs a 60/40 record on quality horror and The Veil is definitely one of those that snuck in on the side of 60.

As far as cult movies go, The Veil is fairly unique. The usual expectations are met as everything starts out looking believable and understandable. Jane's Jim preaches of love and acceptance. Than it starts to go crazy as we learn that Heaven's Veil is that space between life and death, which Jim is planning on conquering while taking everyone else with him. This is conveyed to us via found footage videos of the experiments viewed in present day by the documentary crew that is visiting the old compound with the only survivor of the mass suicide. Jessica Alba is mediocre as the leader of the documentary which is all that can be expected these days. As the weird stuff and possessions happen, driving the film to its inevitable conclusion, the lesson becomes more about misunderstanding and revenge. The Veil is a little slow to get to the point with all its build up through Jane's influence to insanity. But Jane is only reason to keep you riveted on whats happening. Without him its likely the entire story would collapse. The twist to the end almost took this reviewer out of the film. Give thanks again to Jane's performance and the uniqueness of the story.

Interesting trivia to consider while watching... originally, the film was supposed to be found footage. When the team felt found footage had run its course, Robert Ben Garant re-wrote his script to make it more traditional. We are thankful they made this decision. Also, Jane rewrote most of his character's dialog to convert him from a fundamentalist Christian to an occultist. This works in so many ways as Jane seems to be channeling Jim Jones and David Koresh, with elements of the rock star Charles Manson.

Available now on all platforms perhaps even Netflix.