Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994 Video) User Reviews

What if Hell was run by Heaven?

[Animus · 7/10 · 26 April 1999]

Here's a concept for you, Hell is run by God. In this movie Hell is a place where sinners are punished by "demons" who worship, and work for, God. Our heroine, Veronica, is a demon born in Hell and raised by God fearing parents to punish sinners until they repent. As she comes of age she wonders why people are only punished after they die, she wants to know why the wicked are not punished before they can do more evil, thus lessening the sins upon their souls and reducing the pain and suffering of others. Veronica slips out of Hell and ascends to the mortal realm only to find it is literally brimming with sinners of the worst kind. Upon learning that sins are not only ignored but often encouraged in the mortal realm she sets out to set people back on the straight and narrow, with appropriately gory results.

fun!

[tilapia · 7/10 · 20 June 2002]

This movie is unique; it's both good in a "so bad it's good" way, and good in the ordinary sense of the world. The cinematography cinemathogory, photography and sets give this b-movie an artsy feel, while the acting and the goofy script gives the film a feel of unintentional comedy.

The cold-shower effect this twist gives is actually quite refreshing. I had fun watching the film from beginning to end, and so will you. Extra plus for the nerdy "hot-chick-on-gargoyle" fantasy cover.

7/10

Tasty Enough

[Tweetienator · 5/10 · 15 May 2022]

A funny little horror flick of the B category. No masterpiece but with some fun ideas, elements of comedy and even a little shimmer of gore here and there. Shining: Angela Featherstone as Veronica, our good but evil demoness from a place named hell. Verdict: good enough for a little snack in-between.

A love-story from Hell

[altea · 17 February 1999]

Viewing a Full Moon production from owner Charles Band is often quite a risk because you never know what to expect on your screen. The great covers of their videotapes/laser discs give hardly any indication about the quality of their movies inside. Keeping that in mind, I was very curious to see what this movie was all about. After viewing it I was quite surprised at the quality of this low-budget flick. It had a good script which isn't often the case, including the last episodes of the Puppet Master series.

Being filmed in a former eastern communist country adds a lot of flavour to the whole production. It gives it a lot of credibility. Every film fan knows by now all the back-lots of the American production companies, so a change of scenery gives this movie a fresh breath of production air. The story is the classic Romeo and Julia with a horror twist. Will their love reach across the borders and horrors of Hell? What is the cost of loving a man from another dimension?

Pretty good story

[Pete975 · 7/10 · 23 June 2010]

I have just finished watching this and I really enjoyed it. A young demon, Veronica, defies her father and leaves hell with her dog, Hellraiser to see the world under the yellow orb with the blue roof. She discovers a world rife with sin and chooses to send those sinners to their reward in hell. Along the way she meets a young doctor in the emergency room and she moves into his flat. He finds himself drawn towards the strange girl and her innocence and certainty.

The film did have its problems - some the acting of some peripheral characters was pretty poor. On the other hand some the acting was pretty good. I liked the guys who played the two detectives on the trail of the brutal demonic killer. The guy playing doctor did a fair job too. The best thing about the film was the story with its unique take on the story of the innocent abroad in the modern world, where that innocent is an unforgiving slayer of those who commit sin.

Comedy, Romance, and Religion

[bemyfriend-40184 · 5/10 · 9 November 2021]

One of the oddest films I've seen on Tubi, the free streaming site. Seems to have been made somewhere in Eastern Europe. The religion is a pop presentation of some branch of European Christianity. Maybe Orthodox. The female lead is not unattractive. She acts real tough, and scares men. I guess this is energy of this film, as the filmmaker uses her as a sexual magnet. As other commenters have said, the dog is great. Worth a watch for a few well-earned laughs.

Angela Featherstone puts this movie a few stars above pure dread.

[Thullin13 · 6/10 · 30 March 2019]

This is one that always allured me by cover art and title alone, knowing it was a low budget full moon release, my expecations as an actual good movie were slim but yet i was optimisitc in viewing non the less..... You have some really good idea's tossed amixed rushed scenes and hit or miss acting.... Angela has some solid morally thought provoking lines here and her persona and look is captivating and sensual if not also innocent in her own twisted way! this is one of those movie's were the bad guy could be the good guy , and you find yourself feeling more sympathetic towards her and her crude actions, more so than the victims.

This is not something i would go out of my way to own, but i wouldn't oppose another viewing in social setting, having a few beers cutting loose.

Hardly great but something a bit different.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 21 March 2010]

Dark Angel: The Ascent starts in hell where a young Angel named Veronica (Angela Featherstone) has arguments with her brutal father Hellikin (Nicholas Worth) who works in hell as a torturer, Veronica wants to leave hell &after a big argument with her father she does. A portal from hell leads Veronica out of a sewer & into a small town in America, there veronica his hit by a car & is taken to the nearby All Saint's hospital where kind doctor Max Barris (Daniel Markel) falls for her innocent child like ways & offers her a place to stay. Veronica is intrigued by her new surroundings but it's not long before the Angel in her comes out after she realises how much evil there is on Earth, as a punisher of evil back in the pits of hell Veronica reverts to type & brutally kills anyone she thinks is a sinner as both she & Max begin to fall in love but can a human man & a dark Angel from hell ever be happy together?

This Romanian American co-production from Charles Band & his Full Moon Entertainment production company when he actually still bothered making decent horror & sci-fi films was directed by Linda Hassani & is an oddball sort of fantasy horror romance that isn't exactly brilliant but a lot more interesting than a lot of Band's later output. Dark Angel: The Ascent is an odd mix of religious ideas, romance, comedy & horror with a little vigilantism thrown in there too that is memorable if nothing else although by the end of the film it felt like a collection of moments rather than a coherent film. Scenes are set in hell, on Earth & Veronica is this dark Angel who falls in love with a mortal man while dishing out some brutal justice to sinners she meets. The main theme of the film is all about being as good a human being as you can otherwise the wraith of God will punish you in one way or the other, it's a rather heavy handed message & I doubt anyone watching Dark Angel: The Ascent will take any notice anyway but the makers tried I suppose. The romantic side of things are very straight forward, man meets girl & they fall for each other but in typical fantasy style the girl happens to have descended from hell. The horror angle is alright too with scenes set in a fiery burning hell where tongues are cut off & people are tortured for infinity & there are a few decent kills back on Earth as well. While a mixed bag of a film at only 80 odd minutes it moves along at a decent pace, the story maintains interest throughout & the mixing of ideas & genres works quite well although it does get a little fractured towards the end with seemingly random events happening. Of course it's not perfect, the dialogue is very forced & sounds weird, the subplot about the Mayor disappoints & while Veronica is stabbed at one point with no apparent consequences when she gets shot at the end she almost dies so there's not much consistently & most damming of all I just didn't have much fun watching it as it's all a bit matter of fact & preachy.

The film looks alright but it's painfully obvious that this was shot in Romania & not in the US where it's supposedly set, the makers probably used local actors & crew & maybe that's why the dialogue sounds so strange & forced like everyone is speaking in broken English. The film has a dark cold look to it, it's quite stylish without ever being visually amazing. The scenes set in hell are quite good too with a red fiery depiction of hell & the idea that Demons have families & daughters & go home after a hard days torturing sinners to eat their dinner that their wife has cooked them is quite amusing, the whole idea that they have family problems & arguments & rebellious children is also neat but does feel a little out of place & a little bit like a comedy sketch. While in hell Veronica has a pair of bad plastic wings & two horns which magically disappear when she arrives on Earth. There's a bit of gore here, there's a severed hand, a cut off tongue, a ripped out spine, a mutilated body, someone has a large pole pushed through them, throats are slashed & a people are stabbed. There's also a bit of nudity & sex as well.

With a supposed budget of about $350,000 this looks like it had more spent on it actually as it has decent special effects & production values but I suppose Romanian labour is cheap. The acting isn't great, again maybe the Romanian cast being asked to act as Americans & speak in English has something to do with that. Angela Featherstone as veronica is quite good although not brilliant & she looks alright I suppose.

Dark Angel: The Ascent is a film with some good ideas that never really come to fruition, the makers never really develop them so they have proper meaning & while it's different I didn't actually enjoy watching it that much. An oddball horror romantic fantasy with religious overtones that is good but not great.

Twenty phalanges up! (That's all of my fingers and toes.)

[Random-20 · 10/10 · 29 April 1999]

Dark Angel The Ascent is undoubtedly the best low-budget film to ever be made. The special effects are superb, the acting is beyond expectable, and the story is surprisingly good for a low-budget film. Though, the one part that seems to pull this movie together is the talented and titillating Angela Featherstone; who showcases her multiple talents in this movie.

Interesting Concept - Good Storytelling - Poor Pacing - Numerous So-Bad-It's-Good moments

[pianotm-58404 · 6/10 · 4 September 2021]

I have had this movie on my shelf for years, and have never watched it until tonight. It's dubbed, so I've been blessed with overall lousy voice acting. The kind of acting where everyone talks like they're trying to be understood by very young children or senior citizens going deaf. Since it's dubbed, I won't allow it to influence my rating.

This movie has three gears:

1st Gear. You're watching a scene that hilariously misses the mark. It only takes one tiny thing to make a dramatic scene unintentionally hilarious.

2nd Gear. Slow scenes that make you wish the movie would just get on with it. Poor pacing throughout.

3rd Gear. Scenes that explore an interesting religious idea that really, really grips you.

The following paragraph contains a relatively minor spoiler (the spoiler is inconsequential to the overall plot, but it does remove some of the suspense surrounding the main character's arc.):

I love the idea that demons are actually pious religious fanatics that are spending eternity serving the God the best they can, hoping for forgiveness that will never come. I also love the idea that the one rebellious demon girl that breaks the law and runs away from Hell is the one that earns God's favor. She has a very hamfisted way of applying God's will, though. Without going into details, you can see Veronica's point of view but there are scenes where she comes close to going too far, and you kind of worry just how flexible her barometer is for applying her incredibly zealous and overly pious judgement. She's a religious zealot. We already know that's not a good thing.

Not only that, but the overall story's actually good, which can be hard to see when you have to deal with overwrought, and often banal dialogue, though the majority of that is from the demoness, which doesn't understand how humans talk as a point of her character, so a lot of it is somewhat forgiveable. One thing that this film succeeds at is making you very uncomfortable with the alien nature of this demoness when interacting with humans. That was very well done.

Visual effects are overall bad. On the plus side, they're all practical effects. Makeup and gore effects are really good, though there is one awkward gore scene. Costumes are hit and miss--the horns and ears are good, but the wings look a bit too much like they were from Jo-Ann's Fabrics. The angel's costume also looks like a cheap cream cheese commercial. At least they had the good sense not to give her wings, too, or that would have ruined what little believability the costume still had.

Ignoring the voice acting from the dub, the overall acting ranges from half-way decent to idiotically terrible. Veronica's voice actress actually does a half-way decent job, although I can't really say it's actually good.

I mostly enjoyed this movie. There's enough fun, silly, campy parts to make up for the parts that drag.

Well, it had potential...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 23 October 2019]

I had no idea what I was in for when I sat down to watch "Dark Angel: The Ascent", but I must admit that I had hoped it would be something a bit more than what it turned out to be.

Why is that? Well, because this movie was mundane and somewhat boring actually. I dozed off once or twice along the way, because the storyline was downright slow and uninteresting.

It should be said that the production is actually good and the movie does have a good sense of professionalism to it. But when the storyline is lacking contents, then the movie does tend to suffer.

Plus it didn't really help the movie much that the characters were bland and for most parts actually turned out to be characters that you don't really care much about.

Sure, the movie is watchable, but this is hardly a movie that will appeal to just everyone in the audience. I wasn't really in the target audience here, and I felt bored with what transpired on the screen.

The concept idea was interesting enough, just a shame that there was no solid or profound script and storyline to back up the concept idea.

All in all, this was a less than mediocre movie experience. And as such, then I am rating "Dark Angel: The Ascent" a four out of ten stars.

you have no idea how vile sin is in the eyes of the Lord.

[m0vieguy · 9/10 · 4 September 2001]

I discovered this film a few years ago, and having happily given in to the sleazy heavy metal/custom van mural cover art on the box, was floored to realise that there was a perfectly serviceable piece of B movie fun here. I showed it to a friend, and he remarked " I know what my next dungeons and dragons character is going to be..." So there you have it, as far as love stories between hunky doctors and lawful evil demonic assassins go, this is the best of the genre.

Decent movie worth viewing for its story and singular fascinating performance by its leading actress

[tabuno · 7/10 · 27 January 2019]

What could be considered the typical occult, horror, monster movie actually transforms itself into something quite different and with positive outcomes. Certainly not a classic, what might easily have been a four- or five-star movie at best, turns out to be a decent seven-star movie that is worth viewing for its story and the singular fascinating performance by its leading actress Angela Featherstone as Veronica, an angel-like creature from Hell. Starting with the movie's problems and then a description of some the movie's strengths follows in the progression of the movie's overall qualitative tenor, except for its questionable special effects later in the movie.

A good part of the movie especially the first half, presents some pretty dead, stunted performances likely attributable to the director. The movie also has a very brief heavenly angel scene that is so cheesy even though it's a sincere attempt to add a tantalizing twist to the concept of an avenging creature hell based on Biblical sin. The poor special effects especially later in the movie of fire and brimstone is a huge unfortunate weakness at that point in the movie, diminishing its intended impact, though the consequential and relatively effective psychological performance of its aftermath partially makes up for the low-budget lapse in film quality. Other minor weaknesses include the use of a manual typewriter in 1994 when the IBM's Selectric typewriter was available by 1961. There's the odd use of a taxi when it's more likely a car would be available. There is also a bodily injury that is from a human medical perspective appears to be potentially lethal based on arteries that may have been severed or internal organs damaged so that a doctor's response in the movie might be reasonably suspect. And the many, many candles while very romantic also seems a bit unrealistic.

Yet this low-budget, B-movie, has the fortune to be based on a somewhat distinctive script that consists of a serious attempt to use the avenging angel from Hell concept based on the Old Testament which by the end of the movie offers up a reasonable and tantalizing movie arc. The music track is adequate with interesting ethereal strains and an enhancing if not specular accompaniment. Angela Featherstone, as Veronica's adjustment to earth seems surprisingly too smooth at first but there are suggestions of a more difficulty accommodating to a non-Hell world. But the script continues to evolve beginning to present Veronica's cultural challenges and even more tantalizing and captivating one, including her choice of eating utensils. Later Featherstone really ups her performance thanks to the script and her ability to capture its tangible and intriguing paradoxes in behavior. Surprisingly, Veronica is given to acting out realistic snoring, often omitted in most movies which by itself is both quite refreshing and yet at the same time quite repulsive. The brilliance of the script is Veronica's behavior as a hellish angel from the Old Testament. There's a fascinating brief encounter between Veronica and two nuns that offers up a striking and distinctive appeal in the movie.

Angela Featherstone does a credible acting performance in what is typically a rather ironically a black and white character presentation by most actors in other movies. Considering the script she has to work with, her performance comes across impressively consistent with the movie's biblical basis and the sharp cultural differences, almost alien in nature to the actual humanity that Featherstone grew up from in real life. In contrast to the remarkable stylistic performance from Brad Pitt who plays death in Meet Joe Black (1998), Featherstone actually seems more convincing. Her acting is more is relatable to the superlative eerie sci fi/horror movie Under the Skin (2013) in which Scarlett Johansson dazzles with her disguised alien presence among humans.

What's commendable about the film direction is its nice balance between horror, drama, romance, and comedy. The humor usually comes in the form of the detectives' impertinent remarks or physical fumbles which are rarely overly done, to their credit. And after a while, either the dull acting parts are either significantly reduced or the movie's decent storyline allows the audience to ignore the performances to some extent, making this movie more watchable overall.

Bad; very bad

[capncrusty · 1/10 · 2 January 2010]

When I saw Charles Band's name attached to this one, I should have known it would smell worse than the pit from which the title character came. One has to wonder with whom the "starlet" slept, for it obviously wasn't her "acting" that got her the nod. As for the other characters, I can't recall ever seeing such a mish-mash of robotic emoting combined with overacting so ludicrous that it would have been over-the-top even in a spoof.

I find it amazing that this gobbler got such a high rating. Apparently the entire crew, plus their families, friends and pets must have been the only ones that voted. Overall, the DVD of "Dark Angel" is not worth the hellfire to melt it. Give it a miss.

Best B Movie Ever

[syhughes · 6 March 2003]

I am somewhat of a B Movie junkie. I've seen this film about 4 times. The first time I saw it I was 15(Late Night Cable). I was hypnotized by the innocence of a demonic being and the depth of the story line. It was one of the best B movies I had ever seen even now 7years later. Featherstone wasn't playing apart she was the part of a beautiful demonic angel full of innocence and bloody justice. Her character made the movie and having a good script to work with didn't hurt either.

Is it so hard to believe that God runs Hell, Demons are God fearing, and we suffer for our sins until we realize and repent. If I wasn't such a sinner I'd ask God for a job.

If you haven't seen it see it, if you didn't like or even appreciate it for what it was you weren't really watching it.

TO TURN AWAY FORM EVIL IS TO BE AN ACCOMPLICE OF EVIL

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 9 January 2019]

Veronica .....Iscariot (Angela Featherstone) manages to escape her family in hell and live on the surface where she becomes a vigilante angel, living with Dr. Max Barris (Daniel Markel). In hell Veronica has horns, big feet, wings, pointy ears, a tail, and a small pox vaccination scar on her arm, because God knows we don't want any disfigured dark angels.

The hell scene was fairly decent for a low budget film, except for the dinner table scene which seemed a bit odd. Veronica has a hard time adapting to our world, akin to a "Fifth Element" type of thing and acts extremely odd when her mannerisms appeared normal in hell. Her speech suddenly went odd as she says, "Accept me into your dwelling." I like the fact that her mother was named Teresa. Don't think about it too hard.

The film was low budget and had low budget effects such as the red eye, etc, but to their credit they never used that demonic voice enhancer.

A good low budget film.

Guide: No F-bombs. Sex and nudity (Angela Featherstone)

Amateur night losers

[headneep · 1/10 · 31 October 2000]

Low-budget indeed! So many shots in this "film" were bereft of any visual detail or texture, its straight-to-video intentions were painfully apparent. Why did I start to watch this flick? Generally positive reviews found here and, more to the point, Videohound's four-bone rating (highest on the scale). This causes me to doubt the trustworthiness of anything the Videohound wrote. Did I finish watching this flick? No. Do yourself a favor; don't start.

Wow, I liked this!

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 24 August 2021]

Veronica Iscariot (Angela Featherstone, Linda from The Wedding Singer) is a rebellious young demoness who wants to leave Hell for Earth, where she can live amongst the humans. Her father Hellikan (Nicholas Worth, who is of course Kirk Smith from Don't Answer the Phone) gets sick of her behavior and decides to kill her because that's what fatherly behavior is like in the inferno. Her mother Theresa (Charlotte Stewart, Mary X from Eraserhead and Betty Briggs in Twin Peaks) saves her and sends her to the world above with Hellraiser, her faithful hellhound.

Much like a Terminator - and to appease foreign sales - Veronica appears in our reality completely naked and is then hit by a car. She's saved by Dr. Max Barris and they pretty much fall in love and immediately move in together, which should not work, but when you're a demon and your dad keeps trying to kill you, your daddy issues are subscriptions and we can see why the doctor is ready to deliver multiple prescriptions for putting the ranch dressing in the Hidden Valley.

So what do you do if you're a demon on Earth? You start killing muggers, I guess. Then you move on to dealing with bad politicians, corrupt cops and racism, if you're the hero of this film. How weird is it that this is a feminist demon movie that doesn't suck?

Thanks, Linda Hassani. Now I have to hunt down your work on the Playboy TV anthology series Inside Out, which claims to "do to softcore sex films what HBO's Tales from the Crypt did for horror."

She was also listed as a director on Full Moon's Bunker of Blood: Chapter 5: Psycho Sideshow: Demon Freaks but that seems like a re-edit, just like Tomb of Terror, which cuts this story down to about half an hour.

Much better than expected

[druidbloke · 8/10 · 2 May 2009]

No idea what the previous reviewer was watching but the film looked great with impressive lighting, locations and camera-work, unprecedented for a film of this budget, texture wtf? lol The acting was oddly mixed sometimes very good and you wouldn't even notice you were watching a B movie, other times terrible and definite shades of porno, but an impressive attempt and a surprisingly interesting plot which blurs the moral lines between good and evil. The effects were not over used and were fine for the purpose and not particularly cheesy, and the movie made me laugh in quite a few places which is always good, either intentionally or not. I cant really criticize anything other than maybe the ending maybe felt like the whole thing had run out of steam a little, but this could have been much worse.

Slightly intriguing but too slow moving

[Floated2 · 4/10 · 29 August 2023]

Many have compared this film's plot and storyline to the Terminator (1984). Both deal with lead characters from different worlds who get put into the real world and are looked upon as outsiders and have to juggle with their new reality.

Lead character Veronica in Dark Angel: The Ascent is intriguing and a clear presence but the story is basic and moves at a slow pace.

For a lower budget film, the special effects aren't bad and the camera quality and look of the film is watchable enough.

Although the story is predictable and doesn't get as much out of it as it could have. In the end it was seemingly pointless and fails to make a true lasting impression.

Intelligent AND sexy

[dev-cyrn · 10/10 · 30 August 2008]

Another one of my favorite Full Moon films! I'd say "Dark Angel" is a movie that thinks its a Japanese manga... or a Japanese manga that thinks its a movie.

For instance, the lone innocent female from a different (under)world.. on a mission but romance gets in the way. Also thought-provoking, makes you think.. "what if demons are doing god's bidding after all?". I definitely enjoyed the story and how this played out! Has the same 'vibe' as subspecies... sexy but not over the top. The director and writer did a great job with this piece!

I wholeheartedly recommend this movie for a b-movie marathon, you can't go wrong with it.

Punishing Those Who Do Evil

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 21 September 2017]

This film essentially begins with a young female demon named "Veronica" (Angela Featherstone) who lives underground in Hell but has visions of life on the surface. When her father hears of this he becomes quite furious and almost kills her. Fortunately for her, she manages to escape and with her faithful dog "Hellraiser" finds her way up to the surface. Unfortunately, upon venturing into a nearby city she happens to get struck by a car and is subsequently taken to a hospital. While there she meets a physician by the name of "Dr. Max Barris" (Daniel Markel) who takes pity on her and agrees to take her to his home upon her release the next morning. Veronica, however, has been conditioned since inception to punish those who do evil and upon venturing outside of his apartment she proceeds to do just that. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an interesting movie which apparently tried to mix in some dark comedy with some of the horror aspects but didn't succeed all that well. It also suffered from a low-budget which was particularly obvious with some of the computer graphics. In short, this wasn't necessarily a bad movie by any means but it had its faults and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Strange movie with cool plot

[gozor · 21 July 1999]

Certainly gets the gold star for originality. I personally believe that the whole basis for the plot is preposterous but I've always been the type that can put those feelings aside long enough to sit back and enjoy the ride (hey I did it for every Bruce Willis movie I ever saw). Anyway, this was a prime example of what hell would be like if God designed and ran it. We also get some interesting insight as to "zero tolerance" of a divine nature. Pretty scary if you are an evil doer. After watching this film I wanted to see something else that Featherstone starred in. She was a real trip in this one. The acting was pretty good worked well. This movie should definitely be watched if you are open minded and enjoy major paradigm shifts.

These Are The Last Days....

[lindquistuk · 10/10 · 30 March 2003]

A strange mix of artfulness (gorgeous, rich cinematography & a screenplay with a high-concept philosophical bent) and schlock-horror (below par fx/music & TV movie acting - apart from Angela Featherstone, who is utterly hypnotic). Strange also that they try to pass Romania off as the USA (where the script was obviously originally set - why they didn't just tweak the screenplay I'll never know, as the European setting looks stunning). Top this off with multiple references to 'Taxi Driver' (Featherstone feels a similar need to 'wipe the scum off the street'; she even takes her love interest on a first date to a porn movie, and can't understand why this should make him so uncomfortable!). In short - unique. Awful ending though, as abrupt and underwhelming as Full Moon's other efforts from the same period. But, nevertheless, quite an achievement considering the budget (I believe a paltry $250,000!)........

Why do I like this movie???!!!

[curvycom · 9/10 · 27 January 2005]

I don't know, but I do!!! I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. The thing is, that this is a b movie, but there are some intriguing things about it.

Well educated folks have filled me in on the fact that the theology of this movie is not that far fetched if, for example, you know anything about the theology of the eastern church—but hell, all I have a crappy US public school, whole language, Dick-and-Jane, politically correct education, so I merely found it an intriguing premise. In fact, if it weren't for Open Office, this review would be full of spelling errors as well!

Some of the criticism is well founded. The acting is pretty bad—although, to me it seems to improve after the first scene—like they're getting warmed up. The two sisters kind of sound like porn actresses at first. But after Veronica leaves Hell, her acting seems better to me, like she's caught her stride. It seems like she plays the part perfectly from then on.

The Romanian sets are stunning and most of the other actors are just fine. There's a lot of humor in this film. The dog is hilarious.

My only real complaint about this film is the mayor. How do show that a public official is really really bad? You simply have him articulate some conservative views. That whole big + rich + conservative = bad thing is a tired plot device, which wasn't really necessary in this movie. There are plenty of less tired ways to establish that a character in a position of power is evil.

I'd give 10 stars for this b grade masterpiece if it were not for that.