I was very happy with the first half of this movie. Finally, after wading through the swamp of poorly written horror films with medicocre direction that seem the norm for the genre in the last few years, a cohesive, well-directed one at last, with good production values and an attractive, talented cast.
Whoops, hold the phone. Just as I was getting set for a riveting third act, out came the cheesy efx - specifically a pair of blinking red eyes that might work on a novelty Halloween dummy but were ridiculous as a movie effect. And boy did they come out, blinking faster and bigger and hoakier as the movie progressed. It seemed we'd slipped out of The Exorcist territory into Scary Movie or Devil Baby.
As if blinded by the crazy red blinking lights, the director went haywire as well, with critical climactic action getting choppy and murky. And then the screenplay went off the rails as well, with a totally unsatisfying, nonsensical ending that must have been a tragic attempt to make the film "more interesting."
The real horror is that no one reeled this mess in. With more judicious efx and a less convoluted ending, this could have been really good.
Whoops, hold the phone. Just as I was getting set for a riveting third act, out came the cheesy efx - specifically a pair of blinking red eyes that might work on a novelty Halloween dummy but were ridiculous as a movie effect. And boy did they come out, blinking faster and bigger and hoakier as the movie progressed. It seemed we'd slipped out of The Exorcist territory into Scary Movie or Devil Baby.
As if blinded by the crazy red blinking lights, the director went haywire as well, with critical climactic action getting choppy and murky. And then the screenplay went off the rails as well, with a totally unsatisfying, nonsensical ending that must have been a tragic attempt to make the film "more interesting."
The real horror is that no one reeled this mess in. With more judicious efx and a less convoluted ending, this could have been really good.