Sigh... it's almost not really worth the effort to write a review for this film, BUT... at this time there are only 3 reviews here and there are a few specifics that I thought it would be good to mention about the movie that might help some people decide whether they should bother watching it or not.
First and foremost, with a LOT of other Horror movies, especially with a young cast like this one has, you usually have to endure some pretty painful, cringe-worthy 'acting' So, in most cases that would put me off right away. But, that actually is one thing about this film that surprisingly is not too bad compared to most. Most of the young people here, depending of course on the lines they are given, do a fairly decent job of putting their characters across without too many detracting mannerisms. Not GREAT, but slightly above average.
Next, the two brothers who directed and wrote this clearly have a real affection for this kind of Retro Horror story, one that as others here have mentioned, has been done a LOT of times before. The concept that is, not so much the specific source of the Evil Bad Guy. In all honestly, the movie really just doesn't have that terribly much going for it, but the film makers really seem to make an effort to infuse scary, suspenseful visuals and sounds and appear to be TRYING at least to put things together and craft something that comes across as somewhat scary in an old-fashioned kind of way.
I think that if they had taken out a lot of the 'Drama' and perhaps focused more on the research the guy was doing to combat this entity and given that part more depth and background, that might have given the film more weight and substance. As it was, even though that was I feel one of the more interesting parts of the story, they sadly just kind of blew past it and therefore in my lowly and wretched opinion ended up with a last act that was very weak. Seriously, it was pretty bad. The last little tag scene I guess is okay, but I genuinely got the impression that these guys just didn't quite know how to end the story in an effective way.
I kind of liked the creepy, Old-School creature and at least their EFFORTS to try to make it scary. Another thing that was also very surprising to me and is something that usually really drives me up a wall with these types of Horror films, is that the sound design was actually handled quite well (despite what one reviewer here stated, but I think he was referring to the loud jump-scares, not the overall sound design) Usually what they do, and it indeed totally drives me insane (well, MORE insane) is that they usually in a very 'Amateur Hour' kind of way boost EVERY damn sound to super high, unnatural levels. Pouring water into a glass, shuffling papers on a desk, jangling keys, etc... Horrible... But in this case, all the accompanying sounds like footsteps, how the voices were miked, and incidental sounds were actually quite natural sounding and refreshingly lower in the mix, which is NOT the case in a lot of other Horror films. So, for their side-stepping that common and EXTREMELY annoying mistake, I was very thankful.
Basically, what I am trying to say here is that there really isn't a whole lot to get excited about. There honestly just isn't that much too the film. The last act is very weak and leaves you feeling like, 'That's it...??!' But, other than that, I suppose what I'm trying to get across is that there aren't TOO many obvious, stupid things that overtly annoy or detract from the overall story, so you can kind of just sit back and still enjoy it a little.
Think Stephen King's 'IT', but WITHOUT the deeper characterizations and hefty back story. We're talking 'IT' (lite)... VERY lite...
Not really a very strong recommendation I know... I was probably a little TOO generous giving this a '6' rating, but I am SO bloody used to having to put up with all these other horribly irritating things in most films, that I guess I was just surprised and happy that at least they avoided the most common and obnoxious stuff that you usually see...
First and foremost, with a LOT of other Horror movies, especially with a young cast like this one has, you usually have to endure some pretty painful, cringe-worthy 'acting' So, in most cases that would put me off right away. But, that actually is one thing about this film that surprisingly is not too bad compared to most. Most of the young people here, depending of course on the lines they are given, do a fairly decent job of putting their characters across without too many detracting mannerisms. Not GREAT, but slightly above average.
Next, the two brothers who directed and wrote this clearly have a real affection for this kind of Retro Horror story, one that as others here have mentioned, has been done a LOT of times before. The concept that is, not so much the specific source of the Evil Bad Guy. In all honestly, the movie really just doesn't have that terribly much going for it, but the film makers really seem to make an effort to infuse scary, suspenseful visuals and sounds and appear to be TRYING at least to put things together and craft something that comes across as somewhat scary in an old-fashioned kind of way.
I think that if they had taken out a lot of the 'Drama' and perhaps focused more on the research the guy was doing to combat this entity and given that part more depth and background, that might have given the film more weight and substance. As it was, even though that was I feel one of the more interesting parts of the story, they sadly just kind of blew past it and therefore in my lowly and wretched opinion ended up with a last act that was very weak. Seriously, it was pretty bad. The last little tag scene I guess is okay, but I genuinely got the impression that these guys just didn't quite know how to end the story in an effective way.
I kind of liked the creepy, Old-School creature and at least their EFFORTS to try to make it scary. Another thing that was also very surprising to me and is something that usually really drives me up a wall with these types of Horror films, is that the sound design was actually handled quite well (despite what one reviewer here stated, but I think he was referring to the loud jump-scares, not the overall sound design) Usually what they do, and it indeed totally drives me insane (well, MORE insane) is that they usually in a very 'Amateur Hour' kind of way boost EVERY damn sound to super high, unnatural levels. Pouring water into a glass, shuffling papers on a desk, jangling keys, etc... Horrible... But in this case, all the accompanying sounds like footsteps, how the voices were miked, and incidental sounds were actually quite natural sounding and refreshingly lower in the mix, which is NOT the case in a lot of other Horror films. So, for their side-stepping that common and EXTREMELY annoying mistake, I was very thankful.
Basically, what I am trying to say here is that there really isn't a whole lot to get excited about. There honestly just isn't that much too the film. The last act is very weak and leaves you feeling like, 'That's it...??!' But, other than that, I suppose what I'm trying to get across is that there aren't TOO many obvious, stupid things that overtly annoy or detract from the overall story, so you can kind of just sit back and still enjoy it a little.
Think Stephen King's 'IT', but WITHOUT the deeper characterizations and hefty back story. We're talking 'IT' (lite)... VERY lite...
Not really a very strong recommendation I know... I was probably a little TOO generous giving this a '6' rating, but I am SO bloody used to having to put up with all these other horribly irritating things in most films, that I guess I was just surprised and happy that at least they avoided the most common and obnoxious stuff that you usually see...