The Eternal

1999 "Evil sleeps, but never dies."
4.4| 1h35m| R| en
Details

An alcoholic American couple travel to the UK with their son so he can meet his grandmother but they walk in on their crazed uncle who is in the midst of reviving a centuries-old Druid witch.

Director

Producted By

Trimark Pictures

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Reviews

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Platypuschow The weirdest thing about this odd little movie is that its labelled a remake of The Mummy (1932) (And subsequent remakes). But instead of a mummy we have a witch.And instead of Egypt it's Ireland.And instead of being good, its terrible.Starring Christopher Walken and Jared Harris, even a decent cast couldn't turn this one around.The plot is thoroughly confuddled, the script is dire and the only thing that the movie has going for it is the finale but even that is recycled.The Eternal (Otherwise known as Trance) is a hard one to pigeon hole. It's not exactly a traditional horror, more a supernatural thriller maybe?One thing is for sure, the movie isn't as smart as the creators clearly thought it was and falls under the category of instantly forgettable.The Good:Walken and Harris do fineThe Bad:Messy score/soundtrackWalken is wastedThings I Learnt From This Movie:Getting knocked out twice within the space of a few minutes has to have a lasting impact right?
dr_mabeuse A good cast and they do their best with what they're given, but the story makes no sense, the characters' actions are inexplicable, and there are too many moments of unintentional humor, as when a man is killed by being pierced with pieces of a phonograph record or when they get the witch drunk to a hip hop beat and then hit her over the head with a bottle and she grabs her hostage and pouts off. The scene when the two witch and her victim (played by the same actress) are in the house together sets up like a 3 Stooges routine, and the plot begs the question: if the witch wants to possess this other woman's soul, why doesn't she just do it instead of leading these people on this elaborate chase? Not to be missed is Christopher Walkin's eyeglasses and his automotive explanation of the afterlife (paraphrased): "The ancient Egyptianas - they wee materialists. They expected the body to last through eternity, like a used car that you souped up. But the Druids, they knew you couldn't drive in the afterlife. You had to get out and walk." Huh? The ending is absolutely indecipherable. Seems like they just ran out of film.
Middelkoop This movie was, as some other people already said, very vague. I found this movie in a discount box at a local record store. That is exactly the place this movie should be found in. I wouldn't say this movie was bad though. The camera work was excellent; the eerie atmosphere was really clear throughout this movie, but the storyline was just to flawed to actually make out what really happened, or what was meant to happen. Some scenes though, were just irrelevant, like the one where old lover Joe suddenly came to the house again and, well, didn't really have a further contribution except dying. Plus I wonder what the whole point behind the couple's drinking problem was. It clearly didn't have any further added value to the story. Overall, I would say this movie could have been a lot better if the storyline were worked out in a better way.6/10
Infofreak I watched 'Trance' on the strength of Almereyda's arty vampire flick 'Nadja' and the presence of Christopher Walken, a great favourite of mine. I shouldn't have bothered. The movie starts off interestingly enough with the New York sequences, and the all-too-brief appearance of the late Jason Miller ('The Exorcist'/'The Ninth Configuration'), but as soon as they hit Ireland, it all goes rapidly downhill.To add insult to injury, Walken's role is basically nothing more than a glorified cameo! Bigger than 'Sleepy Hollow' say, nothing to get your teeth into. I've liked Jared Harris in the past, in 'Happiness' and yes, 'Nadja', but he's quite poor in places here, as is the main female lead who I wasn't familiar with.Overall, mediocre and unsuccessful in holding your attention. I actually nodded off at one stage, which is always a warning sign! A major disappointment when compared with the potential Almereyda showed with 'Nadja'. Even 'Cherry 2000' is better!!