It sort of redeems itself in its thrilling final moments, committing to the premise in a big way, but this doesn’t stop the final product feeling overstuffed, in spite of a reasonably short running time. Towards the end, Jeruzalem retreats into the caves below the city to evoke memories of As Above, So Below, The Pyramid and even The Descent. Instead of just plonking dumb Americans down in the middle of a culture shock-inducing setting and letting the paranoia take hold, they throw everything at their characters, to varying effect.
It’s almost like writing-directing team The Paz Brothers have a few too many ideas for their debut feature. Watching them, the audience gets a little lost too. The tiny, winding streets of the Old City are ideal for confused young people abroad. Utilising its stunning location well, particularly during the initial panic, the film grounds us in the action, never letting us forget where we are and how trapped the characters are. In spite of these flaws, however, Jeruzalem is still the most accomplished of this strand of horror movies. In a world of token females, maybe this is a positive, but it doesn’t make him any more interesting. But, in spite of being described in the press notes as a “mysterious anthropology student” (is there even such a thing?) he’s little more than the token male. Likewise, if Kevin had anything resembling a personality, he could’ve been a proper villain. One almost wishes the story focused on the thief who stole Sarah’s backpack instead. Nothing scary really happens until over halfway through, and the effects used to bring the monsters to life, when they do show up, are more than a little sketchy. It actually works better as a tourist brochure than a straight horror flick. Rachel is the one we’re rooting for, particularly when things really start to go downhill. Aside from, essentially, wearing the camera on her face, Sarah is disposable. It’s through her that we get a real sense of the danger at the heart of Jeruzalem. Luckily, Grobglas’s Rachel, the real star of the show, is intoxicatingly bubbly and endlessly enthusiastic. Whiny and self-involved, Sarah’s strongest moment comes with her seduction of drippy Kevin, when she finally throws caution to the wind and lets loose a bit. The character is essentially a cipher, an audience insert who reacts to everything as we watch it happening. Less successful is Sarah herself, as played by Israeli-British newcomer Danielle Jadelyn.
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