Leofwine_draca THE AFFLICTED is an example of the 'misery lit' genre writ on film. It's an indie drama that follows a quartet of siblings as they're subjected to abuse by their religious, crazed mother. Aside from the presence of Jason star Kane Hodder in the cast, this has no horror content and is merely depressing. If you just like seeing people getting abused for the entire running time then you might just enjoy it; otherwise, if you're looking for proper plotting, character development, etc. then I'd recommend checking elsewhere.

Yellow Power From my experience, a lot of the reviewers on IMDb can never be pleased! I have seen amazing movies like "The Afflicted" suffer the wrath of those who want to turn a blind eye to reality. The subject matter of "The Afflicted" is that of a true story, and this movie is an excellent depiction of what really happens! Unlike many other movies, this movie causes the viewer to actually feel something. Even if those feelings are anger, remorse, and disgust, the movie has still gripped your attention and caused an emotion. Isn't that what makes a movie successful? Not every movie should show lovers dancing in fields or show zoo animals bonding with humans. A happily ever after ending does not constitute an excellent movie. America needs to grow up! A true story of bad parenting should be rated higher than Toy Story! This movie reminds us to be more aware of our surroundings instead of watching "feel-good movies" that are dumbing us down! Hollywood has spoiled us with movies of redemption, and victory, and above all else, fantasy.

fracpa That was about all it did. Made me mad. I seriously fast forwarded after Carla was killed because I just wanted to see the mom beat. But during the movie, I didn't understand how 4 teenagers wouldn't fight back more. At least after Cathy was shot. I feel like natural instinct would be to do everything to save your sister. And they were all old enough to realize that there is no way she could take down even 2 of them if they stuck together. It was overall a decent movie acting and plot, but it just makes you mad and sick. Child abuse is disgusting. The movie definitely portrayed it well, I just think the whole situation is kind of far-stretched. I'm sure it has happened, it just seems to me that it would be more likely of younger children or children who grew up with it. The movie made it seem like she had a sudden change so the kids knew the difference. Also, if a kid goes to a guidance counselor bawling, they don't take the parents word lol

Corpus_Vile Maggie (A great, if slightly manic performance from Leslie Easterbrook, aka Callahan from Police Academy!) is a god fearing Christian woman, married to Hank (A nicely done cameo from Kane Hodder). When their marriage fails, due to Maggie's uncompromising fire and brimstone style views, Maggie becomes bitter, resentful and beset with financial woes. Taking to the drink, she begins endlessly watching the public access TV show of the Cowboy Preacher (JD Hart), who comes to visit at times. Spare the rod and spoil the child, the family must stick together, is what the cowboy preaches from Maggie's TV.As the financial difficulties worsen, Maggie begins to fancy she can converse with God, and that her children should pull together, and chip in anyway they can. If that means doing things they normally wouldn't do, then so be it. And if any dissent ensues, well, Maggie is more than willing to dispense her own quite vicious brand of discipline, because spare the rod, and spoil the child, after all...The Afflicted is a well shot and well acted horror, with good performances all around, from a nice cameo from Hodder to an excellent (if again, slightly ott) performance from Easterbrook.It's also pretty grim, with a bleak tone, and will probably inevitably draw comparisons with The Girl Next Door. However, my main beef with this was that it requires serious suspension of disbelief, and I'm actually wondering if it really is based on a true story as it claims or if this is just a marketing ploy, the way Wolf Creek was supposedly based on a true story, when in reality it was simply loosely influenced by a number of true life cases.The kids, who are all between 17 and 18, one of them a guy, have ample opportunity throughout the film (at least by default anyway) to either escape, report or even overpower Easterbrook, yet don't. This detracts from any tension, and makes it hard to take the whole thing seriously. Most if not all of the supporting characters outside the family are stereotypical rednecks, and towards the end, you're just kinda waiting for things to finish.The Afflicted isn't precisely a bad film, it's more of a flawed one, but overall, I found it neither stand out or substandard. It just failed to leave a lasting impression on me, well made and well acted that it was. 5/10 probably worth a look actually, to make one's own mind up.