Simply an underwhelming, and clumsy Swedish haunted house film with your standard genre tropes directed without any lasting impression. Kinda low-scale, slow and particularly unevenful with frequently minor paranormal activity until the end. Think along the lines of "Amityville Horror". However there's a goofy charm (unintentional and intentional) to proceedings thanks to some questionabe, head scratching character actions/reactions, overcooked dialogues and eccentric side-characters (mailman, paranormal researcher).
Most of the storytelling is filled with family drama, growing tension and amplified squabbling (brought upon by the father's obsession over the house's strange occurances) with only a few scattered spooky atmospheric moments and a go-for-broke final 10 minutes with a climatic pyrotechnic pay-off. These well-done scenes mainly occurred during the quieter moments with a focus on vivid sound design and shadowy photography. It's just too bad whenever the intrusive music score or hamfisted dialogue delivery entered the picture it was a mood destroyer. As for trying to understand what's going on - all we get is a passage read out from a book discovered in a locked up room in the attic. It's a vague exposition dump, which doesn't share much light on the backstory of the family's new home and what awaits them if they don't leave.
Also the visual quality of the print I watched was beyond blotchy and the english dub was bad, yet amusinginly so when the characters curse their heads off... yep even the children. The family dinner table discussion regarding peakcocks will get you attention.
Most of the storytelling is filled with family drama, growing tension and amplified squabbling (brought upon by the father's obsession over the house's strange occurances) with only a few scattered spooky atmospheric moments and a go-for-broke final 10 minutes with a climatic pyrotechnic pay-off. These well-done scenes mainly occurred during the quieter moments with a focus on vivid sound design and shadowy photography. It's just too bad whenever the intrusive music score or hamfisted dialogue delivery entered the picture it was a mood destroyer. As for trying to understand what's going on - all we get is a passage read out from a book discovered in a locked up room in the attic. It's a vague exposition dump, which doesn't share much light on the backstory of the family's new home and what awaits them if they don't leave.
Also the visual quality of the print I watched was beyond blotchy and the english dub was bad, yet amusinginly so when the characters curse their heads off... yep even the children. The family dinner table discussion regarding peakcocks will get you attention.