My quick little review

I had recently been in the mood for horror. Maybe it's the season, who knows. So I went onto Netflix and looked at their New Arrivals and that's where I found this little gem. I looked up the trailer on youtube and thought it looked quite promising, which is surprising for you don't find many good, unknown horror films on Netflix. Or at least that's the case with me.

The film rarely had a dull moment. It moved quickly and setup the creep factor well. The build in intensity was handled so well. Starting with Deborah's more minor symptoms and shooting off from there. There could have been more of a sense of "Is she crazy or is something more sinister going on?" at the beginning but that's a minor gripe. Since the Found Footage craze, there have been few films in the genre that I have enjoyed this much.

I have three major problems with this movie but they were, mostly, easy to look over. The main and most irritating one was the actress who played Mia. She was just awful. Where films like this thrive from actors who play well "in the moment" and must have a good handle on improvisation, she lacked so heavily there that I stopped paying attention to what I was watching and started wondering how she got the role. This is exceptionally excruciating during the scenes where she and Sarah Logan are digging in the yard looking for the body of Desjardin (sp?) and where they are trying to burn it in the fire place. I could see and hear the frustration coming from the poor actress playing Sarah and it suddenly became awkward trying to watch. These are the moments in good films where people begin to wonder who had to sleep with whom to get that role. And that's a pity. My other two more minor complaints were that it started to resemble The Blair Witch project just a little too much during the start of the climax while in the house and mines. There is a difference between an homage and a straight out copy. And, finally, the very last shot. It would have been so easy to end this with subtle creepiness. Instead we were bashed over the head with the, now possessed, little girl giving her best evil villain smile. All that was missing was for her to wink at the camera accompanied by a *ding* sound effect.


Well, that's it. I know it seems that I complained more than praised, but I really did enjoy this film very much and highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Also, kudos to the actress that played Deborah Logan. Not only did the role seem physically and emotionally exhausting, but she will definitely be haunting dreams and dark corners for a while.