Reviews

I was enjoying the film up to half time were this far fetched idea of a killer next door that kept doing his business even though a neighbour on house arrest has been watching his every move. I ignored the obvious clichè of sexy blonde babe moving next door. But when he started to waste time in the killer's house, calling "muuuum, muuuum" as if he is somewhat hoping to find her crushed asleep on the sofa it stops being laughable, it becomes irritating. Everything was obvious about this film, even though it can be engaging, not everything is terrible. I should known was sort of movie I was watching when he started to make hi tech gadgets out of nowhere to suit his purpose. The killer is charming, as they are these days, well in movies at least, and that I can accept. I find it hard to believe instead that he should be so careless as to kill his victims in front of his windows repeatedly, with the light on at night! He should have worked for the government:) Go figure, but then what do I know, judging from the positive comments on this site, people are a lot less fussy than I thought. Hitchcock this ain't.

Everything about this film was well made and engaging. The relationship between the little boy and girl was beautiful until they decided that, for no apparent reason, she should die. Why ?? My daughter sobbed uninterruptedly for the rest of the film and it really ruined it. I was very disappointed and I feel this twist has totally ruined the film and gives no reviewing pleasure either, so forget the DVD. I find the producer to be utterly irresponsible filmmakers. Are they trying to teach our kids about death ? Well, leave it to us, thanks you very much as it is this film has proved a waste of time. One good note, the cast was excellent.

I just saw this movie. It has a good seventies feel, is a solid thriller with a few obvious clichés typical of those days. The nude scene of the little girl, even though short, would never pass in this day an age but is a reminder of where we were then and where we are today that it causes such a shock, considering the plot deals with the kidnapping of another child the subject matter is still sadly relevant today. It has more than a tint of early Dario Argento in it without the gore that the DVD sleeve suggests. The music, with the child like chorus, has an eerie feel but it now feels very dated. I cannot comment on the English version of the film as I saw the original Italian and that too was dubbed as it was common practise those days and it still is in some section of the industry. The main actor holds the screen well and in general the acting is passable, even though a bit camp as, again, it used to be in those days.

What an overrated filmmaker Scorsese is. I have just seen the film and I was tempted to quit all the way through. This film must be one of the worst film Scorsese has ever made. Worst than the Aviator and yes, even worst then the Age of Innocence, which had put to sleep. The problem it seems is that Scorsese does not know anymore what makes a good script. The script here is simply terrible. It seems a patched up affair of "yeah I like this lets put it in" or "yes this looks good, lets do it". The plot does not follow any logic and worst of all the film and its characters are totally unbelievable like the police shrink who is supposed to love Damon's character and then suddenly, oops, has a quickie with the other "rat" in the film DiCaprio's character, what a small world we live in, eh? Then of course, everybody plays double games, everybody is corrupt and so on all for the sake of convenience and because it sounds good and NOT because the script demands it! The script looks as if it has been written by a film school student. Then of course we come to Scorsese handling of the material and that of course, disappoints too. For the first half of the movie we hare subjected to a mean loud disco music which make the dialogue barely audible but is the overall feel of the film which lacks any class and timing, which is what you would expect from a filmmaker who goes by the name Martin Scorsese.There are simply a ton of bad film-making decisions in this film, too many to tell, think of the final rock song in Gangs of New York, totally out of contest and multiply it by ten. I only save the cast, here Scorsese has cast everyone competently and they all perform to a very good standard for the top actors that they are. My only doubt there being the casting of Walberg in a role where I would have seen better suited an older actor. The soundtrack might do good business and no doubt people who like mindless violence and no plot might find something in this but otherwise don't bother. Not a good movie.

After hearing various negative comments on this film I was ready to be disappointed. To my surprise the film was engaging all the way through. Until the ending that is, I am afraid. But before I get on to that I would like to say that this film is definitely not for very young kids, there is a lot of suggested horror in the shape of a variety of monsters and creatures in here even though it is "not" graphic. Is is a Walt Disney picture after all. The ending for me partially kills the film. This film has the very bad habit to think that dead people can be resurrected like some sort of Jesus but that to me is cheating the audience. I will not spoil the fun and go in any further detail but, how shall we put it, be prepared to be at least surprised by its, for me, rubbish ending. It does leave me unsure if I will bother to watch the next one. Oh and before I forget, this film does not have an ending to its story, it does require you wait a year and watch the next one. But having said that it was very entertaining and I think you should watch it if you loved the first.