I was kind of reluctant to write a review for this film. Mainly, because SOME people may indeed find it entertaining (as some here have said) But, to me personally, although I REALLY liked the premise and even, in CONCEPT, liked the basic way the story was plotted and what the underlying 'truth' eventually turned out to be, it was the way the story was handled and primarily the 'STYLE' in which it was done I felt were just not nearly as effective or satisfying as it could have been, given the excellent subject matter.
I feel that if the film makers had approached the movie with more of a 'SESSION 9' type of film in mind, rather than an 'MTV' type of style, THEN I probably would have really liked it a LOT better. It started out really well with a ponderous, moody tone (very much like 'SESSION 9', one of my all time favourite Horror films) BUT... about half way into the story as they began to 'ratchet up the tension', the movie kind of lost me mainly because of it's visual and editorial style. I don't mean to say that there were a lot of mindless quick edits, or anything quite THAT awful or stupid, but still, the overall approach really leaned a lot more towards quicker edits, strobed visuals, and intercut scares. SOMETIMES that can work with a Horror film, but in my lowly and wretched opinion, NOT with this kind of premise where you clearly have the potentially Dark, Mysterious, and Biblically Supernatural possibilities that this story has. I feel that with a movie of THIS type, constructing a strong mood is far, ***FAR*** more important than flashy visuals.
That is why, in my thinking, the premise and the setting to me were MUCH more strongly reminiscent of 'SESSION 9' with it's abandoned research station instead of an abandoned asylum, and the people there clearly being affected mentally (or spiritually) also as in 'SESSION 9' So, to me their visual and tonal approach with this film just didn't quite seem to be as Darkly effective as it could have been. Don't get me wrong, there WERE several nice, creepy individual scenes. The recorded sounds were quite effective. But, instead of ramping up the visuals to such a frenzied and kinetic degree, to me it seems that a more Dark and ponderous approach would have worked a LOT better. In other words, instead of what I perceived as a more superficial and kind of obvious visual approach, I think a more Dark, vague, and almost subconsciously disturbing mood would have fit this story much better.
So, FWIW, I just wanted to leave my impressions of the movie here for others who may want a little insight into the approach and tone of the film, since Horror movies can be approached in a MILLION different ways and styles, and people's tastes are just as varied too.
The acting and overall technical competence was good. I would say that even the writing and the direction that the story took and the eventual underlying 'truth' and outcome were just fine. I just think that the actual STYLE of the movie, if it had been approached differently, could have REALLY had a MUCH more powerful impact on the audience, and could have been far more disturbing and unsettling (thus fitting the premise better) and a LOT more effective in creating a sense of true 'Horror' for the audience.
I feel that if the film makers had approached the movie with more of a 'SESSION 9' type of film in mind, rather than an 'MTV' type of style, THEN I probably would have really liked it a LOT better. It started out really well with a ponderous, moody tone (very much like 'SESSION 9', one of my all time favourite Horror films) BUT... about half way into the story as they began to 'ratchet up the tension', the movie kind of lost me mainly because of it's visual and editorial style. I don't mean to say that there were a lot of mindless quick edits, or anything quite THAT awful or stupid, but still, the overall approach really leaned a lot more towards quicker edits, strobed visuals, and intercut scares. SOMETIMES that can work with a Horror film, but in my lowly and wretched opinion, NOT with this kind of premise where you clearly have the potentially Dark, Mysterious, and Biblically Supernatural possibilities that this story has. I feel that with a movie of THIS type, constructing a strong mood is far, ***FAR*** more important than flashy visuals.
That is why, in my thinking, the premise and the setting to me were MUCH more strongly reminiscent of 'SESSION 9' with it's abandoned research station instead of an abandoned asylum, and the people there clearly being affected mentally (or spiritually) also as in 'SESSION 9' So, to me their visual and tonal approach with this film just didn't quite seem to be as Darkly effective as it could have been. Don't get me wrong, there WERE several nice, creepy individual scenes. The recorded sounds were quite effective. But, instead of ramping up the visuals to such a frenzied and kinetic degree, to me it seems that a more Dark and ponderous approach would have worked a LOT better. In other words, instead of what I perceived as a more superficial and kind of obvious visual approach, I think a more Dark, vague, and almost subconsciously disturbing mood would have fit this story much better.
So, FWIW, I just wanted to leave my impressions of the movie here for others who may want a little insight into the approach and tone of the film, since Horror movies can be approached in a MILLION different ways and styles, and people's tastes are just as varied too.
The acting and overall technical competence was good. I would say that even the writing and the direction that the story took and the eventual underlying 'truth' and outcome were just fine. I just think that the actual STYLE of the movie, if it had been approached differently, could have REALLY had a MUCH more powerful impact on the audience, and could have been far more disturbing and unsettling (thus fitting the premise better) and a LOT more effective in creating a sense of true 'Horror' for the audience.