Reviews

Henry Thomas and company deserved better material. All the main actors: Thomas, the family he's helping, etc, do very well with what they're given. The actress who plays the little girl easily delivers the creepy by the bucket load.

There's some technical prowess here with the atmosphere created by set design, lighting, and wardrobe, but that proficiency detracts from the supposedly "gritty" feel they wanted to borrow from horror films of yore. The filmmakers are said to have used certain techniques to make this look as if it were shot on film, but visually everything way too bright, sharp, and balanced. The only effect I noticed were the "cigarette burns" that flared up in the upper right of the frame once in awhile.

The plot has a solid foundation once we discover what's behind all of the happenings on screen, but instead of using the house's origin story to drive it home, it turns the villainous force into a generic "demonic" presence that still has enough manners to make it through Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Just do what we do: hide the silver and call the undead a cab.

This is a fine, but flawed, film. If consider this a film "unlikable", which is not to say that it's a bad film at all. What I mean is that it is not a film that makes you feel good about humanity, or inspired, or offers false hope with a Hollywood ending. I often ask myself while reviewing "unlikable" films, Did the director accomplished what they set out to do? Were their efforts effective?

The story is about parents who completely and utterly indoctrinate their children. The "children"--actually young adults--in this film have no understanding of the world outside the walls of their parents' compound. They are socialized, but only within the confines of what their parents seem appropriate. Most of their indoctrination is by omission. The rest is lies.

The subject is an uncomfortable one, and the film made me squirm in my seat, wondering what appalling behavior would be displayed next. Most of the kids' actions are through ignorance of certain social mores. The incest is figurative. If they had the capacity to make adult decisions, they'd just be considered weird, or emotionally enmeshed. Their innocence has no bottom, however, so you're left wondering what boundary of normal behavior they'll cross next.

That was what made me feel discomfort in the pit of my stomach: dread and disgust and pity. I believe that's the effect the director sought, and that's why it's successful.