This is a pretty harsh movie to watch. It's about a totally deranged mother who abuses and batters all of her children in some religious mental haze, up to killing some of them. It's apparently based on true events and it's painful to see how many by-standers (a low-life preacher and a school-teacher) fail to see what is really happening and let the situation deteriorate right under their noses. It's also heart-breaking to see how the children cannot stand-up to their mother, all the time you think: come-on, give her a smack, push her away, but that's just how children are intimidated and are locked-up in this child-parent trap where going against your parent is a non-issue. They even stoop to being part in the abuse on each other, forced by their mother, just to win a little shred of her appreciation. The acting is fine, especially Leslie Easterbrook as the mother is doing a great job but the young girls are equally convincing. My only reservation concerns the "message" or the moral if you will, of this movie. It's pitch-dark and there is no happy ending, it leaves you totally depressed. As an account of a true story that's probably due to the raw facts, but you so much would have liked to see that it had ended differently.

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.

A story of incomprehensible abuse delivered by an explosively violent mother of four. Journey through the mind of a child that experiences a living hell, defined and defended by the twisted religious beliefs of her mother.

Leslie Easterbrook is a crazy mother, a role she takes to heart, and had it not been in an otherwise disposable movie, she would have been receiving wide praise for her performance here. She is, we see, a consummate professional.

It is nice to see Kane Hodder without a mask (or even gloves to hide the burns) and some decent lines. His acting is never fully appreciated, and this film is a good example of his ability to shine. If only his role was bigger.