I saw this film for the first time Halloween night. Saw it on BluRay, purchased after I saw so many great reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (87% positive ratings! Unbelievable for a horror film! Gotta see it!) I got my wife to watch, after I pointed out the great ratings from mainstream reviewers. But, she bailed out as soon as the "son" (or whoever he was)shot the driver/girlfriend in the head. Personally, I liked the film for its eerie atmosphere and slow build-up. But, I agree with Brucehwangchen that that particular killing and the killings at the end were too contemporary in style for this film. The ending did not "deliver" in the manner that the rest of the film promised.
In looking at any film, but particularly horror films, I am of the opinion that the plot points and behaviors of the characters must "hold together". It ruins it for me when the characters do not react like real people would react. This film has all characters acting (mostly) like believable characters -- until the end. Here are my "problem points":
Why did the "son" shoot the driver/friend? Maybe to eliminate a witness. This should have been made a bit clearer in the film. Otherwise, it kind of looks like a gratuitous bloodsplatter shooting.
Why did they go through the elaborate ruse of going out, and needing a sitter for the mother-in-law? Wouldn't the sitter want to meet the old woman? Or, at least, shouldn't she have been curious about what duties she might have to perform? Any emergency numbers? Any medications? Seems a little odd that the director didn't flesh out this "ruse" a little bit better. You could argue that this made the situation all-the-more strange/odd. But, still, this glossing-over gives me pause.
The pizza delivery was apparently pre-planned by the "gang". I assume it contained some sort of drug to knock out the sitter. She threw most of it away. She ate only a few bites. Was this enough to knock her out? Again, this is an aspect of the film that is certainly unclear and begs explanation. Maybe the director cut out scenes?
The "gang" was extremely slow to react to the sitter's breaking away from the ropes/ pentagram. Again, I would have liked to see a more realistic scenario here. The director could have done better. This was, for me, one of the weakest points of the film.
Finally, I have no idea why the sitter would shoot herself in the head instead of shooting Mr. Ullman. That made no sense to me. She had done such a good job of self-preservation up to that point. Attempting suicide here is absolutely not a realistic reaction that a real person would make, in my opinion. So, this plot point is the weakest aspect of the film, by far. And, could she really have survived such a blast to the head? I have my doubts.
What is the background story of the "family" in the big old house? It sure would have been nice to fill in some Why? Who? How? etc. This would add greatly to the rounding out of the story. The mysteriousness of the "family" is good up to a point. But, too much mystery simply makes me think the film's creators didn't spend enough time in developing the concept.
Probably none of these weaknesses by themselves would ruin a horror film for me. But the cumulative effect definitely leads to a downgrading of an otherwise fine film. What could have been a 5 star horror film gets slammed down to a 3 star film in my ratings. Lots of potential here, and I bet the director would do things differently if he had a bit more time and money. (Just a guess on my part.)
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SWLinPHX (245)
2 years ago
Harvest, your take on the film is point on. I loved the build-up, lack of immediate blood and guts and slashing, and loved, loved, LOVED how more than any other modern film it not only seemed set in the 1980's but shot in the 1980's. Not sure how he did that when so many other big-budget films cannot.
A better "reveal" about the family and their backstory and a more fleshed-out and less rushed ending would have definitely helped. I too found some of the plot holes problematic (why not take her immediately instead of the whole babysitting charade and wait, count on pizza being ordered/delivered, why shoot the friend in the car, etc.). I also found that as a determined survivor she wouldn't just kill herself. She hadn't been thru enough torture or failure to feel the situation was hopeless. She had already escaped and had the upper hand with a gun. Also, she is just going to believe some nutcase who is also a proven liar that she is carrying the "devil's baby" enough to kill herself?? Don't buy that at all and it flies in the face of all we sat thru up to the last 15 minutes.
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