source: Anguish

Boring, standstill, forgettable. These are the words I'm using to describe this...well whatever it is. Even for a drama this is drab. I will keep this review to a minimum: pass it by.

I cannot believe the extremely low marks on IMDb. Surely this is a mistake. A highly intelligent film that had more than a few scares to boot. The acting was well above average as was the story too. Try to check it out. Considering the dross that seems to be sadly and continually served up in recent, so called horror films, it was refreshing to see a film that didn't insult the viewers intelligence. In some ways it reminded me of It Follows. It would appear that Indie chillers are the only films these days that are proving to throw done fresh ideas into the horror genre. So please give it a try and hopefully we can see more from the writer and director in the future. Highly recommended.

I'll start off by saying that this is a relatively slow paced film, there are lots of long scenes without dialogue and the usual things that happen in modern horror films are mostly set aside. There are a few scare scenes, but this is definitely not an in your face type of horror film. If you do not enjoy slow paced films then you will not like this. With that said, I really enjoyed this, it was such a great surprise. I really had no idea what to expect when I turned it on but the beginning instantly hooked me. From there the film does a great job of creating a very realistic atmosphere, it makes the theme of the movie almost seem plausible because it presents it so well. The story is told in a very soothing and almost calm way, which makes the horror elements really jump out when they are introduced. The acting was well done, the small cast all does a good & believable job. Everyone does kind of speak in the same mono toned fashion but when you consider how unhappy really everyone in the film is it makes sense for them to all be speaking that way. Overall I thought this was great. It takes the cliché possession theme and does something new & interesting with it. It's not going to be for everybody, but if you go into it expecting a slow paced heavy atmosphere type film then you will most likely be pleased. 7/10

I'm a type of guy who thought "The Exorcist", "Paranomal Activities", "Nightare on Elm's street" or any zombie movies rather mediocre or amusing. So I watched "The Anguish" pretty randomly, just out of boredom with zero expectation at the beginning. But then I found myself quite fond of this movie. I like the SFX, the OST, I like how you have to rethink and put together all events during the movie to understand it completely, I like how accurate it is to real life (with a little bit of exaggeration for horror atmosphere). And a good horror movie is the one that allow people who watching it able to relate to. Now I understand that most people will find this movie boring, lack of meaning or maybe even stupid. But the reason why it interested me is because there are certain events that happened in the movie I have seen it with my own eyes, and I understand the whole process of it. Let just put it like this, my own mother had the same ability as Tess in the movie. (But of course it is not like in the movie where light bulbs would flipping or you would hear weird noises no.) I'm totally recommend this movie to people who have certain knowledge or experiences with the spiritual world. (and no I'm an atheist, I don't believe in god or demon or church, but I do know that spirit world exist)

I like slowburning horror movies. I like when the tension is constantly built up until you can't take it anymore. When subtle fears are highlighted instead of jump scares. That sort of thing I like. But there's a difference between a movie being slow paced and a movie being no-paced. Anguish is the latter. It's exhaustingly boring. It's basically a possession story about someone else's spirit trapped inside a girl's body and the movie revolves around her and her mother coping with it. And I appreciate what it's trying to do, focusing on the psychological angle as opposed to straight up scares. The problem is it misses the mark completely. There are chunks of this movie where absolutely nothing happens. Tess sitting down and looking at something, next scene, Tess walking around aimlessly, next scene, Tess sitting somewhere else, etc. It tries to build tension when there's no tension to be built. You're just waiting for something to happen - anything - and it never does. It even has the generic "inspired by true events" and perfunctory statistics before the movie starts, trying to excuse itself from the horridity, but it doesn't work. The music is frustrating, too. Going back and forth from bland indie acoustic songs to excruciating violins and of course the LOUD noises for when you're supposed to be scared. It's just annoying and frankly insulting to the audience. The only redeemable part of Anguish is the acting. It's surprisingly good, especially when the actors have to recite dialogue this terrible, so good on them. But in every other conceivable way, Anguish is an empty shell of a movie. The only thing it ensures is the anguish knowing you could have spent an hour and a half doing something better with your life.

ANGUISH is another bland and generic American horror flick made on a low budget. The uninspiring story tells of a teenage girl with mental health issues who might just be psychic and indeed possessed by the spirit of a recently deceased car accident victim. Although there's no faulting the shooting style, this is very slow and unconvincing stuff, more of a domestic drama than a real horror production.

In the first scene Lucy "call me Lucinda" (Amberley Gridley) becomes an SUV hood ornament. A new family moves into town which includes Tess (don't call me Teresa) Ryan Simpkins. She is beyond moody. She suffers from "anxiety, depression, hallucinations and disruptive behavior disorder" all without having been married to a Scientologist. About an hour into the film, it shifts from a simple haunting to one count of possession. The film claims to be inspired by true events, so no one's head spins around. It is a slow building drama that borders on a Lifetime Film. Ryan gives us a different view of "possession" although possessed people still must have bad hair. Has some light scary moments. Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Was drawn into seeing 'Anguish', with as said for many films seen an intriguing and reasonably creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for supernatural drama/horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive. 'Anguish', simply put, turned out to be yet another disappointing film, hence some reiteration for similar films, and waste of potential with a few fairly small positives and so much done catastrophically wrong. Not one of the worst films ever seen, not even close, but 'Anguish' is a classic example of how not to do a premise deserving of a film that does it justice. Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and the music fits nicely and has eeriness. A few decent horror moments and a few moving ones too. The acting could have been far worse. However, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their irritating and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrate. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best. Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, not to mention far too exposition-heavy, while the pace is uneven, dragging in a lot of the first half, which goes on forever and fails to get going, and never is it exciting even for a deliberate slow burner. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense. Too many elements are introduced, and then dropped, barely explored or don't go anywhere, sometimes even all three. A lot of the film completely fails to make sense, both in underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations. There is a lot of choppiness and some lack of coherence, and to me the supernatural elements were too vague and unimaginative and the dramatic ones melodramatic and overwrought. The threat is poorly used and poses very little threat. The film completely peters out with an ending that felt like an afterthought. Summing up, very mediocre at best. 4/10 Bethany Cox

On arriving in small town USA a troubled girl is contacted by the dead, and her family must fight to end her troubles ... A slow but evenly paced drama that treads the line between the literal and the metaphorical. The intro delivers a blunt shock, then we explore the world of the heroine as she mopes about before contact is made. The horror effects are mostly jumpy, with a few imaginative visuals, but I don't think this really hits the horror mark. It's similar in tone to The Babadook, which was draining to watch, but at least this movie has some literal spooks and doesn't make the mistake of leaving the story on the metaphorical level. It's also less affecting than Magic Magic, which deals with a girl spiralling into madness and isn't so linear. The drama is underpowered, I think, because the heroine doesn't change when contact is made - really, she just gets a little more depressed and erratic, so there's no contrast. There's almost zero need for male input, which would be interesting if the female characters weren't forever falling tearfully into each other's arms. The priest seemed pointless, and there's one odd scene with a guy in mask, which I wanted to see play out but may have been a left-over from a theme that was edited out. One thing I did appreciate is how miserable the American way has become, with bills for useless medical treatment and military service and underemployment - although indie films like this pack nowhere near the punch of similar stuff from the '70s. The acting is good, with good dialogue and timing in a flashback scene at the swings. The sound creates a spooky mood through plucked strings and humming cellos, and there's an off-key folk song that gets repeated. Effective, but the music is constantly "on" with no space for silence, so I ended up wondering how the story would play with just ambient sound - probably unwatchable. The photography and editing are good. Overall: Thoughtful, bit of a drag.