When SarahвЂ™s bag is stolen, she loses her prescription glasses and has to wear her gadget all the time, sidestepping the why-keep-filming issue that dogs found footage movies. This casts an uneasy shadow over the slower build-up sequences that follow, but deftly creates a distinctive take on possession mythology.В Jewish American Princess Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn), still troubled by her brotherвЂ™s death, is given a Google Glass by her devoted father on the eve of a trip she is taking to TelВ Aviv with her more outgoing blonde friend Rachel (Yael Grobglas, who was in Rabies).В On the plane to Israel, they meet Kevin (Yon Tumarkin), a handsome archaeologist who persuades them to come with him to the old city of Jerusalem, where they hook up with friendly local Omar (Tom Graziani) and set out to party hard and visit ancient sites. This is rougher and more dramatic than most imitations of The Exorcist (itself partly an imitation of The Dybbuk) as the subject sprouts ragged demon-wings and is summarily executed by a priest with a single shot to the head. The film opens with a snippet of a filmed exorcism, purportedly from a Vatican archive.

While the Israeli film industry has recently turned out several horrors вЂ“ Aharon Keshales and Navot PupushadoвЂ™s Big Bad Wolves and Eitan GafnyвЂ™s zombie movie Cannon Fodder вЂ“ JeruZalem, scripted and directed by brothers Doron and Yoav Paz is the countryвЂ™s first supernatural effort.В ItвЂ™s also a next-generation version of the found footage horror film, one-upping the tonally-similar Cloverfield by having a protagonist wear a high-tech Google Glass device rather than tote a HUD camera through an apocalyptic crisis.

This offers a satisfyingly large-scale demonic incursion as glimpsed from the streets. Even with the proliferation of found footage films in which characters get lost in haunted tunnels, JeruZalem is unusual enough to command international attention. Given the wealth of Jewish lore and legend, and its use in various versions of the golem and dybbuk legends, itвЂ™s a surprise that itвЂ™s taken so long for a demonic horror movie to come out of Jerusalem, sacred to and contested by three major religions.

Jeruzalem movie summary