I know, you’re wondering why anyone would make such a creepy doll in the first place, right? Yeah, I get that a lot…
I wonder how much my ratings of horror movies depend on what time of day I see them. I guess if I see one during the day – without the added atmosphere of the night – and it really affects me, that says a lot about how scary/good it was.
Well, I saw this one in the middle of the day, and it didn’t affect me much at all. That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. It’s pretty well done…but I’ve seen this well done stuff many times before. It has most of the same cliches and plot contrivances that most in the genre have.
It looks good, sounds good, is reasonably well acted (particularly by some of the odd kids), and has a creepy moment or two. Overall, though, it’s not one that will last with me. It’s just too typical.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are serviceable, Ron Livingston is…there, but it’s Lili Taylor that has to do all the heavy lifting once things start to go really crazy. I guess the kids pull some weight too. They have to make you believe they are terrified, and they do a good job.
I don’t have much else to say about this one. I’ll leave it to Cinema Sins to point out all the little problems with it. It’s fun at times, but I wouldn’t say it was all that scary, and it didn’t leave much of an impression on me.
How about a little innovation in plots, movie makers? Enough with the evil spirits that go bump, bump, bump in the night. Enough with the put-upon mother who is always the object of torment. Enough with the creepy kids. Enough with the experts setting up cameras and other ghost hunter equipment.
I think horror writers should start with a list of things (see above) that can NOT appear in their story, then start building a plot. Maybe then we can see something new…
6.5/10
The Robot Who Likes Pretty Things 