I actually felt the same as you, sexyca_3! In fact, this film definitely goes down as one of my all-time favourite films. I thought the atmosphere was perfect for the genre-- like you, I had issues with some of the budgetary constraints, but I thought for the most part, they did an admirable job with what they had. For me, the biggest thing was that the characters were, for me-- unlike, apparently, some of the viewers-- completely believable as real people, from the self-conscious lead (who in many ways reminded me of myself), to the man with the troubled past (the lead's next-door neighbor); mostly, I found it absolutely refreshing for a modern movie to take a high (and conservative) stance on family-life, with a family that wasn't torn apart because of divorce or any lack of loyalty (even the dumb thief kid seemed spurred on not by any lack of loyalty but out of sincere fear of his situation), but by death and the violence around it (things that are all but impossible to avoid-- and thus easy to relate to). The loving son who supports (and is supported by) his mom reminded me of how much I love having tea with my mom and just chatting about nonsense (and it didn't hurt that I watched the film with her my first time around; now I've seen it many times).
Is the film perfect? Nope. I think some of people's issues with the film are pretty valid-- some melodramatic moments, some pacing issues; overall, though, it was the sincerity and sweetness of the film (surprising for a horror flick) that won me over and continues to win me over each time I watch it. I still get chills when... well... a bit of a spoiler, but when a character finds out he didn't get everything he thought he did, I thought the delivery of that moment (those who seen the full movie know what I'm talking about) was perfect and filled with humanity.
To each his own, I guess-- I disagree highly on the remark that the film would have failed in film school. As a film school graduate, I can say that the cinematography in the film would have garnered a lot of praise, and the performances were sincere and strong enough to be quite above most student films.
Also, I've seen some "hollywood" films that would have failed by my teacher's standards... so I think maybe there's a certain degree of subjectivity even in that, but I just don't think you can fake the sincerity this film displayed to me, and really, that is the highest praise I can give the film.
I do find it interesting people had such a different reaction-- I always wonder why this happens when it does. Am I white-washing the film because I'm such a lover of the genre (especially the faustian/beauty-and-the-beast themes)? Are people being unfairly critical of a film that wears its budget on its sleeve?
I'm legitimately asking, I don't know the answer to those questions :p
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