10 Terrifying Low Budget Horror Movies

The Vigil centres on a man named Yakov Ronen, a man who has been raised a Hassidic Jew but, after events in his life leave him questioning his faith, has turned his back on his long-held beliefs. The thing is, for Yakov, this doesn’t just mean he doesn’t practice his religion anymore, it means that he is ostracised by his family and friends.

He does, however, have one person still looking out for him, a cousin who is desperately trying to pull him back into the fold. Knowing that Yakov is skint as well as lonely, his cousin offers him a whole bunch of dollars in order to act as a shomer for one of the recently deceased old folks in their congregation. Yakov reluctantly agrees - he could use the money and it’s something he’s done before - but this isn’t going to be a vigil like all the rest… or is it?

Now, a shomer is someone who looks after a dead body – keeps a watch over it – on the first night after the person’s death. It is a ritual that gives the family peace, knowing that the dead can pass on unmolested as the shomer keeps a look out for any untoward spirits. With the dead man’s Alzheimer’s-addled wife rattling around upstairs, Yakov sets in for the night. Watching his charge, with his iPod playing and snacks waiting, he soon realises that this isn’t going to be quite the ‘money for nothing’ gig he’d first thought.

The Vigil is an excellent example of what can be done with nothing more than one man on screen, a few dancing shadows, and the threat of something yet to come.