I read a couple of reviews of this movie, which rubbished it entirely - dreary, dull, full of plot holes.
For example - one reviewer kept harking back to the point - who called the paramedics - how ridiculous was this? But the film makes it clear that the daughter of the dying mother called the medics from the pay phone right next to her, which was later trashed by the garage guy to prevent any further calls being made. The fact that it wasn't spelled out in words of one syllable might have made it all too subtle for the reviewer (this was rottentomatoes, after all).
Another one - everyone knew where the paramedics had gone, so why didn't they chase them up when they went missing? But the movie shows that they did - cops, and the paramedic chief (who gets bashed over the head for his trouble).
Yet another - how could a cult like this survive without the authorities being interested? Isn't that exactly what happened at Jonestown? Not to mention Western Australia ( the Japanese cult whose name escapes me, but attempted to kill heaps of people on the subway) and various religious sects and cults around the world.
Sure, it's a B-movie, but it had its saving graces. I was impressed that when Vic gets shot through the shoulder, clean wound or not, he doesn't just carry on as though nothing happened - he bleeds, he's in pain, he feels some disability. When his partner gets bashed over the head with a rifle butt, he doesn't just wake up and proceed to beat everyone up - he gets double vision, he has a splitting headache - much more realistic than in the bulk of other movies.
The final twist was great. The film's morality was dubious, but it was thought-provoking - there was some interesting dialog regarding Vic's Catholic background ( a religion that spurns suicide as a sin) and shows how his background, in fact, makes him already a believer.
I enjoyed this, much more than the next movie I watched (The Matador) which had good reviews but was, in fact, complete, totally amoral, rubbish.
For example - one reviewer kept harking back to the point - who called the paramedics - how ridiculous was this? But the film makes it clear that the daughter of the dying mother called the medics from the pay phone right next to her, which was later trashed by the garage guy to prevent any further calls being made. The fact that it wasn't spelled out in words of one syllable might have made it all too subtle for the reviewer (this was rottentomatoes, after all).
Another one - everyone knew where the paramedics had gone, so why didn't they chase them up when they went missing? But the movie shows that they did - cops, and the paramedic chief (who gets bashed over the head for his trouble).
Yet another - how could a cult like this survive without the authorities being interested? Isn't that exactly what happened at Jonestown? Not to mention Western Australia ( the Japanese cult whose name escapes me, but attempted to kill heaps of people on the subway) and various religious sects and cults around the world.
Sure, it's a B-movie, but it had its saving graces. I was impressed that when Vic gets shot through the shoulder, clean wound or not, he doesn't just carry on as though nothing happened - he bleeds, he's in pain, he feels some disability. When his partner gets bashed over the head with a rifle butt, he doesn't just wake up and proceed to beat everyone up - he gets double vision, he has a splitting headache - much more realistic than in the bulk of other movies.
The final twist was great. The film's morality was dubious, but it was thought-provoking - there was some interesting dialog regarding Vic's Catholic background ( a religion that spurns suicide as a sin) and shows how his background, in fact, makes him already a believer.
I enjoyed this, much more than the next movie I watched (The Matador) which had good reviews but was, in fact, complete, totally amoral, rubbish.