Movie review: ‘Jeruzalem’

If not for its setting, the Israeli horror film Jeruzalem would be just another video verite, found-footage, would-be scarefest with little to make it unique. But its locale — Jerusalem’s walled Old City with all of its cultural ramifications — is different and intriguing enough to give at least the first half of this mildly enjoyable low-budget indie the jolt of the new.

Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn) and Rachel (Yael Grobglas) are two young Jewish-American women on their way to what’s planned to be a hedonistic Israeli vacation. They’re going to hit Tel Aviv’s famous beaches and nightclubs but that itinerary is derailed after meeting Kevin (Yon Tumarkin) on the plane. He’s an affable, young archeologist who convinces them to go to Jerusalem with him instead.

It just so happens they’re arriving during Yom Kippur, the holiest time on the Jewish calendar. Though, according to writers/directors/brothers Doron and Yoav Paz at least, it’s also the time when the undead living amid the tunnels and catacombs of the Old City are planning to rise from their underworld.

Guess that’s not the kind of information found in your average travel guide.

It just so happens to be the luck of happenstance that the three Americans end up stuck down there with a couple of Israeli soldiers and Arab citizens so that there can be some rather obvious allusions to the struggles among the living going on above ground.

Unlike other found-footage-style films, where the point-of-view is from that of a video camera, security camera or phone, Jerulazem is told through Sarah’s smart glasses.

She has to wear them all the time because, conveniently for us voyeuristic moviegoers, a purse-snatcher stole her bag early in the trip with her prescription glasses.

That’s kind of a fun gimmick, as are the snatches of counterculture Jerusalem, like the cool Arab-Israeli rhythms pumping from a local nightclub. The problem is that this isn’t a travelogue but a horror movie and Jeruzalem simply isn’t very terrifying. There’s just not much scare there.

Exclusive: The Venetian, Carrollton; video-on-demand

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 12:55 AM with the headline "Movie review: ‘Jeruzalem’."