According to an ancient Chinese legend, a woman was brutally murdered by her father for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Before she dies, she recites a mystical prayer that entombs her soul within a jade stone. The woman is worshiped in subsequent years, and supposedly, great powers will be granted to the person who possesses the stone and harnesses its energy.
Fast forward to modern times and the stone has been recovered by a power-hungry follower named Owen Quinlin (Robert Berson). He forms a cult comprised of a small group of beautiful women, who he somehow convinces to stab their own eyes out and sacrifice their souls in a ritualistic ceremony. At the last minute, one of the girls has second-thoughts (gee, I wonder why?) and refuses to proceed. In a struggle, both she and Quinlin are killed, thus thwarting the ceremony.
Some years later, a group of students led by “Mindy” (Rachel Miner of Penny Dreadful & The Black Dahlia), decide to do a research project on the mysterious cult. Their investigation of the ancient religion awakens the spirit of Quinlin, who then tries to repossess the stone and finish the ceremony.
This is a very low-budget picture, and it shows. It has lousy production quality, and the shoddy directing, clumsy editing, and rudimentary musical score is amateur at best. The writing is simply horrible, with lame-brain dialogue and muddled plot development.
This film has such a low production value, I’m left wondering how such fine actresses like Rachel Miner and Taryn Manning (8 Mile, Hustle & Flow) were conned into doing such a film. It is a mystery to me that makes about as much sense as a group of beautiful women willing to stab out their own eyes and sacrifice their souls.
Had it not been for Miner and Manning, the film would have been a complete bomb. But somehow they manage to salvage deplorable dialogue, and make the movie somewhat tolerable. Rachel Miner, in particular, is such a good actress that she seemed out of place, and in sharp contrast to her fellow cast members.
There are little to no other redeeming qualities to this film. There is a quick shot of gratuitous nudity that, unfortunately, comes from someone other than Miner or Manning. And to be fair, I also have to give some credit to the modest attempt at a creative plot. But overall, this film was a waste of time, and unless you’re a big fan of Rachel Miner or Taryn Manning, you’ll probably want to pass on this one.
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