I have absolutely no problem with movies that are more character and plot driven, especially those with limited budgets. In fact I watched one earlier today that I was so pleasantly surprised about that I contacted my husband and raved about it for 30 minutes while he was at a conference in Germany.
I watched the whole thing, not like a lot of other low reviews who turned it off mid movie. And I can say there were some cute moments between the father and son. But there was nothing driving the plot, so to speak. A moment that struck out to me, and this is where I must say if you're not one who likes spoilers, obviously you clicked the little spoiler warning button so you must not mind, but it's not much of one...so far the house has given them a dead bird in a chimney, something out of the corner of the father's eye, and... that's it.
And the son asks "do you think there's something wrong with this house."
Now, I'm a responsible adult, I know how to answer that question. Even spooked, you answer it ... no. Of course not. Even at this point, there's nothing giving them any indication of wrongness, except the same stuff we all hear in an old house.
Yet the father answers "maybe."
Later they see the ghost, witch? And instead of running the other way they walk right up to it, face to face, stare inches into her face and say her name and are surprised when she tries to attack them. Not just the father, the son as well. Now, I can imagine when the father FINALLY tells his son to get out of the house (which he does not do at first), and the son doesn't listen, that you can understand. The kid is 12. 12 year olds don't often listen. But that is when you march your child out of the house and away from whatever it is sitting in that chair. You do not let your child get in front of you and get in her face.
Those start piling up, and then the plot twist at the end makes absolutely no sense. They barely mention why she's evil, and then they never really explain what she was a witch for, or if she was just a really evil woman, but suddenly she had the power to keep him on the property, something she never had before, but she seemed like just an evil woman before and... really the plot just unravels. And it's a shame because the actors weren't necessarily bad. It's just that...the father makes more and more terrible choices, concluding in giving up his life so his son can have a house.
And quite frankly, I think I would rather have a tiny apartment in the city and an alive father than a house in Vermont and a dead dad.
The pacing is slow, the acting is good, the kid is a good actor, but with the plot and the holes and the inconsistencies, and the fact that it's just not scary (or even disconcerting in the least), I can't give it above a 2.
I watched the whole thing, not like a lot of other low reviews who turned it off mid movie. And I can say there were some cute moments between the father and son. But there was nothing driving the plot, so to speak. A moment that struck out to me, and this is where I must say if you're not one who likes spoilers, obviously you clicked the little spoiler warning button so you must not mind, but it's not much of one...so far the house has given them a dead bird in a chimney, something out of the corner of the father's eye, and... that's it.
And the son asks "do you think there's something wrong with this house."
Now, I'm a responsible adult, I know how to answer that question. Even spooked, you answer it ... no. Of course not. Even at this point, there's nothing giving them any indication of wrongness, except the same stuff we all hear in an old house.
Yet the father answers "maybe."
Later they see the ghost, witch? And instead of running the other way they walk right up to it, face to face, stare inches into her face and say her name and are surprised when she tries to attack them. Not just the father, the son as well. Now, I can imagine when the father FINALLY tells his son to get out of the house (which he does not do at first), and the son doesn't listen, that you can understand. The kid is 12. 12 year olds don't often listen. But that is when you march your child out of the house and away from whatever it is sitting in that chair. You do not let your child get in front of you and get in her face.
Those start piling up, and then the plot twist at the end makes absolutely no sense. They barely mention why she's evil, and then they never really explain what she was a witch for, or if she was just a really evil woman, but suddenly she had the power to keep him on the property, something she never had before, but she seemed like just an evil woman before and... really the plot just unravels. And it's a shame because the actors weren't necessarily bad. It's just that...the father makes more and more terrible choices, concluding in giving up his life so his son can have a house.
And quite frankly, I think I would rather have a tiny apartment in the city and an alive father than a house in Vermont and a dead dad.
The pacing is slow, the acting is good, the kid is a good actor, but with the plot and the holes and the inconsistencies, and the fact that it's just not scary (or even disconcerting in the least), I can't give it above a 2.