The folks in the diner spend most of the film fighting off people possessed by angels including an old woman who can crawl up walls like Spider-Man, an ice cream man with really long limbs and a real angel, Gabriel (Kevin Durand).  In-between these action sequences the film tries to build up some character development as everyone trapped in the diner sits down and gets to know one another.  This is the weakness of the film.

Writer/director Scott Stewart has a long history working in visual effects.  Some of the movies he has worked on include “Iron Man”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”.  So it comes as no surprise to find him being a more of a technical director than an actor’s director.  Some scenes when the characters are suppose to be sharing a moment with deep interaction can be painful to sit through.  The veteran actors do the best they can with the script, but it appears they relied very little on their director to reach their emotional highs and lows.  Stewart tries to let his audience know they are watching a serious moment in the film by curing up some string music and piano play to help “bring the audience in”, something he probably saw in other movies, but that never works for him either.  There is one nice scene between Dutton and Gibson when they are on lookout together when there is no music playing, but it quickly gets ruined when Stewart brings up his musical score again.  Some blame will have to be thrown John Frizzell’s way as he composed the music, but the ultimate blame lies with the director.

The action and special effects sequences are quite enjoyable.  The accompanying music and cinematography works really well in these parts.  Much of the film takes place at night, but things are never too dark to see what is happening on screen, something other films suffer from when night sequences are shot.  As much fun as some of these scenes can be, it’s not enough to save this film, certainly not enough to plop down $10 to go see it in a theater.  It is rated-R for bloody violence and language.