Plot Summary
When Jacob Harker loses his job as a newspaper reporter, he and his wife Haley are forced to move to a small rental house so they can regroup. While Jacob looks for a new job, he becomes fascinated with some of the belongings left in the rental house’s basement, especially a strange record player that contains hypnotic recordings of a singer that draw Jacob in. The more time Jacob spends with the recordings, the more he and Haley are attacked by an evil spirit. Who will prevail in the end? Will they ever escape the clutches of evil that are hidden in the recordings?
Production Quality (.5 point)
Making a horror movie is not an excuse to cut corners on production. Awakened doesn’t even attempt to use the found footage crutch; it’s just one bad production. While video quality if fine, basically only one set is utilized in the entire film, and with it comes poor lighting and unprofessional camera work. Audio quality is also below standard, including overdubs and an almost non-existent soundtrack. Editing is very much lacking as the runtime is very linear. Unfortunately, there is not really much positive to highlight here; this is just another example of a lazy production effort.
Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
Horror is already a very difficult genre to pull off. Adding in typical cheesy Christian movie elements is not a winning combination. First of all, why do we care about this obscure collection of recordings from an unknown artist? Second of all, is this plot actually supposed to be scary? Most of the time it seems like it’s trying to suggest horror elements without actually going all the way. Hardly anything happens in this lame story as the clueless characters mindlessly sit around and do random things. The premise and the coincidences therein are so trivial that this movie is more unintentional comedy than horror. As the story goes on, things get more and more bizarre and thus are likely isolate most Christian audiences. It’s one thing to go after a niche audience and it’s another to make people roll their eyes at another sloppy effort.
Acting Quality (2 points)
Though this cast is tiny, they are actually the bright spot of the film as they make the most of the little help they are given. There are not really any glaring errors to point out here as they are mostly professional. Some emotions seem overdone, but on the whole, this is a surprisingly respectable acting and casting job.
Conclusion
There is definitely a place for Christian horror films in the field, but this is definitely not the way to make one. Whenever you deal with spiritual matters, especially the demonic, it’s not to be taken lightly. Horror can be used to reach people outside of typical Christian entertainment circles, but only when it’s done with purpose, prayer, and redemption. Willy-nilly nonsense like Awakened isn’t going to cut it. Stuff like this only produces more laughs at the expense of Christian entertainment’s already-flimsy reputation.
Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 