Am I The Only One Who Thought This Was Decent?

And I thought the first two American ones were relatively pants. I thought this one did a few good things by not playing unnecessarily confusing tricks with the narrative (most off-putting in the second one), and following a core set of characters through to the very end instead of simply giving us scare-fodder (although this film does have its share of that as well). I wouldn't say I cared about the siblings, but they convinced me as something approaching actual people, at least.

Further, this was genuinely well made. Toby Wilkins is growing on me (after Splinter, which was also pretty good), and he comes across as a director who knows his craft, knows how to frame shots, and knows how to deliver the scares. And that was the other thing; this film was actually scary, not in the "nothingnothingnothingnothingnothingBOO" sense of the other films, but through a genuine raising of suspense and tension via well-placed shots, an effective sound-design and knowing what ghost to show and when.

Sure, it's no masterpiece. The plot is bobbins. But it made several steps in the right direction, worked, and I give it a 7.5/10, rounded up to 8. I just feel as though this film doesn't really deserve the hate it gets. For me it, was an effective vehicle.

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My list of films I consider good; http://www.imdb.com/list/HhtSboRgtg0/