Sadly, I have to give this movie a THUMBS DOWN. I don't recommend you watch it.
This movie has many good aspects. There are noteworthy things in the writing, acting, and directing. It is surprisingly good for a TV movie. (I saw it on the Lifetime Network in Nov-2008.) Some of the comments on IMDb accuse the movie of being cliché. I don't think that's fair. It certainly echoes and builds upon other horror movies. I thought it had a great deal in common with The Hills Have Eyes. There is an Invasion of the Body Snatchers aspect, and maybe a slight Poltergeist aspect. But it wasn't cliché.
Actually, I think this movie is superior to The Hills Have Eyes. It manages to build a greater level of suspense, and it does so with virtually zero gore. That is a notable achievement. You can let older children watch this movie without worrying about scarring them psychologically, but mature fans of horror will still be on the edge of their seats the whole time.
Another great thing about this movie is that, whereas in most horror movies the characters always make the WRONG choices (which is frustrating to the audience), in this movie the characters contemplate the wrong choices but then end up making the RIGHT choices. This adds to the suspense, and makes it all the more surprising when those choices go wrong. I found that refreshing. (An example: neat the end of the movie, the father decides to drive to a neighboring town instead of staying in the possessed town. From the audience's point of view, the father makes the right choice, but then everything goes wrong anyways.)
HOWEVER... although there are good things in this movie, the ending sucks. It sucks just as badly as all the comments on IMDb say it does.
The ending sucks because a) there are too many unanswered questions, and b) there is not a sufficient explanation for who the villain was, and what the actual fate of the family was.
As for the unanswered questions... we never knew how the boy disappeared in the desert, or what happened to him while he was gone. We never found out who was stealing belongings and sorting them into piles in the mine shaft, or why. We never found out if there was a supernatural aspect to the sand storms. We never found out exactly what happened in the ghost town. We never found out how the father walked in a straight line but still ended up back at the ghost town.
The movie suggests three possible explanations for the mysterious antagonist:
1- Descendants of neutron bomb victims who refused to evacuate.
2- Angry Native American spirits -- the ghost town having been built on a grave.
3- Aliens.
These are the three theories that the guy in the jail cell tells the father.
But the movie gives clues that are at odds with each other.
=> The glass bomb site and the snorting creature in the mine shaft suggest MUTANTS.
=> The symbolic layout of the abandoned cars and the raven suggest Indian SPIRITS.
=> The Stepford town, the woman from the video working at the fast food place, and the ultimate possession of the family suggest ALIENS.
This is confusing and frustrating for the audience.
The movie is good enough that it makes you really want a resolution. But the answers cannot be found within the movie itself, nor can you extrapolate the answers from the given clues. Therefore, despite the good aspects of the script, the direction, and the acting, the experience of watching this movie is ultimately highly dissatisfying.
This movie has many good aspects. There are noteworthy things in the writing, acting, and directing. It is surprisingly good for a TV movie. (I saw it on the Lifetime Network in Nov-2008.) Some of the comments on IMDb accuse the movie of being cliché. I don't think that's fair. It certainly echoes and builds upon other horror movies. I thought it had a great deal in common with The Hills Have Eyes. There is an Invasion of the Body Snatchers aspect, and maybe a slight Poltergeist aspect. But it wasn't cliché.
Actually, I think this movie is superior to The Hills Have Eyes. It manages to build a greater level of suspense, and it does so with virtually zero gore. That is a notable achievement. You can let older children watch this movie without worrying about scarring them psychologically, but mature fans of horror will still be on the edge of their seats the whole time.
Another great thing about this movie is that, whereas in most horror movies the characters always make the WRONG choices (which is frustrating to the audience), in this movie the characters contemplate the wrong choices but then end up making the RIGHT choices. This adds to the suspense, and makes it all the more surprising when those choices go wrong. I found that refreshing. (An example: neat the end of the movie, the father decides to drive to a neighboring town instead of staying in the possessed town. From the audience's point of view, the father makes the right choice, but then everything goes wrong anyways.)
HOWEVER... although there are good things in this movie, the ending sucks. It sucks just as badly as all the comments on IMDb say it does.
The ending sucks because a) there are too many unanswered questions, and b) there is not a sufficient explanation for who the villain was, and what the actual fate of the family was.
As for the unanswered questions... we never knew how the boy disappeared in the desert, or what happened to him while he was gone. We never found out who was stealing belongings and sorting them into piles in the mine shaft, or why. We never found out if there was a supernatural aspect to the sand storms. We never found out exactly what happened in the ghost town. We never found out how the father walked in a straight line but still ended up back at the ghost town.
The movie suggests three possible explanations for the mysterious antagonist:
1- Descendants of neutron bomb victims who refused to evacuate.
2- Angry Native American spirits -- the ghost town having been built on a grave.
3- Aliens.
These are the three theories that the guy in the jail cell tells the father.
But the movie gives clues that are at odds with each other.
=> The glass bomb site and the snorting creature in the mine shaft suggest MUTANTS.
=> The symbolic layout of the abandoned cars and the raven suggest Indian SPIRITS.
=> The Stepford town, the woman from the video working at the fast food place, and the ultimate possession of the family suggest ALIENS.
This is confusing and frustrating for the audience.
The movie is good enough that it makes you really want a resolution. But the answers cannot be found within the movie itself, nor can you extrapolate the answers from the given clues. Therefore, despite the good aspects of the script, the direction, and the acting, the experience of watching this movie is ultimately highly dissatisfying.