The Shrine

A pallid cross between Hostel and The Exorcist, Jon Knautz's cheesy horror movie centers on a trio of Americans—intrepid reporter Carmen (Cindy Sampson), her stalwart boyfriend Marcus (Aaron Ashmore), and her mousy aide Sara (Meghan Heffern)—who travel to Eastern Europe to investigate the disappearance of a young tourist. The trio stumble onto a Polish village that is home to a mysterious cult of hooded figures who apparently sacrifice strangers in order to propitiate the demonic force associated with a strange statue in a nearby fog-shrouded forest. Although a final twist turning the villains into heroes makes very little sense, The Shrine might still have generated some genuine chills if it weren't so ineptly made: the Polish setting isn't remotely credible, the gory effects are mediocre, and (except for Ashmore, who played Jimmy Olsen on Smallville), the acting is awful, with Sampson embarrassingly bad. Only the most tolerant genre fan will have any appreciation for this sadly sub-par effort. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)