This is an solid, slow-burn, atmospheric horror movie; well-paced capped off with a thrilling third act. It very effectively combines a simple plot, and natural characterization, with good acting and direction. The result is a compelling story that is believeable and susupenseful.
At the end of the final act, I was thinking "high-fives all-around, good job guys" and was about to give this two thumbs up.
And then, inexplicably, in the last 5 minutes the filmmakers revert to cheesy B-horror cliches making for a jarring denoument that simply feels wrong.
WTF? Was that studio exec interference or just plain bad judgement? Nope. Because it's a prequel (to a movie I haven't seen yet), I guess it had to end with a bridge to the other movie. But it could have and should have been better, so the truth is, it's just bad writing. The last few minutes just don't match the tone or narrative arc of the first hour and a half, and it comes across feeling like a cheap add-on. Not a twist ("cool!"), or a surprise ("gotcha!") just lame ("seriously? Pffthtttt!") (That's the raspberry sound, BTW.)
This movie should have wrapped up nicely at 1:27:25. If it had: 8/10.
With the dopey last 4 and a half minutes added: 6/10.
PS - If you can, stop watching at 1:27:25 and just imagine a better CODA; e.g., Lana, the sensible one, getting on with her life as best she can, and the Ouija board washing up on some beach like in Jumanji.
At the end of the final act, I was thinking "high-fives all-around, good job guys" and was about to give this two thumbs up.
And then, inexplicably, in the last 5 minutes the filmmakers revert to cheesy B-horror cliches making for a jarring denoument that simply feels wrong.
WTF? Was that studio exec interference or just plain bad judgement? Nope. Because it's a prequel (to a movie I haven't seen yet), I guess it had to end with a bridge to the other movie. But it could have and should have been better, so the truth is, it's just bad writing. The last few minutes just don't match the tone or narrative arc of the first hour and a half, and it comes across feeling like a cheap add-on. Not a twist ("cool!"), or a surprise ("gotcha!") just lame ("seriously? Pffthtttt!") (That's the raspberry sound, BTW.)
This movie should have wrapped up nicely at 1:27:25. If it had: 8/10.
With the dopey last 4 and a half minutes added: 6/10.
PS - If you can, stop watching at 1:27:25 and just imagine a better CODA; e.g., Lana, the sensible one, getting on with her life as best she can, and the Ouija board washing up on some beach like in Jumanji.