***** Warning - there are some spoilers in here
I sort of liked this and sort of didn't. It's not a straightforward movie to review.
The acting was wonderful, there's some fantastic cinematography and tension building direction - reminiscent of Hitchock. The story is OK, some character development and you do care what happens to them. Lashings of spooky atmosphere. Quite creepy at times and moody with a hint of Gothic.
On the other hand, there are some very silly plot holes and devices, not enough depth/backstory etc to the characters, the ending is rubbish and there are several annoying bits that just go on far too long.
Spoiler alert*** I first got unforgivably distracted & annoyed in a scene where Pinky keeps getting in and out of an elevator with some mildly spooky goings on around her. It got to the point where I was yelling "Oh for gawds sake stop getting in the damn elevator!" because it all seemed so pointless and stupid. It was wasted footage (one of my pet peeves) and didn't add anything to the movie, in fact it detracted severely from the overall suspense. The "spooky goings on" became boring and mundane due to their repetition (with nothing really happening) so it ended up being less scary than say... rats running around in there. Our girl seemed awfully scared tho. So why didn't she take the stairs at any point? Not to mention her ridiculous reason for all this leaping about in elevators.
Another example is the fairly tense and climactic "screaming at the door scene". Seriously, it felt like that scene just went on for years with nothing changing, not even the dialogue. Just the same lines being repeated (screamed) for I dunno, 10? 15 minutes. Maybe it just felt that long. At this point I started fast forwarding the vid because the whole scene was irritating me beyond reason. And once a movie has me reaching for the FF button it's pretty much all over bar the shouting. Goodbye suspense/horror/thrills etc. It was just "yeah OK so when does something interesting happen & how fast can I get to the final scene" I fast forwarded most of the final half hour at least. Shame because I think the flick has so much going for it but was let down by a few serious bungles.
I recommend this movie for fans of subtle horror, suspense & drama but not for hard core horror/gore/slasher/thrill-seeker fans. Next to OldBoy or Audition this is Mary Poppins.
Lastly an observation - It felt like the Director wanted to make a statement about battered wives - and I applaud him for that. It doesn't detract from the film but makes it a bit more serious-minded than most horror/ghost stories.
I say go ahead and rent it! It's better than about 90% of the dross out there and has enough suspense and intrigue to keep it interesting till the somewhat unfortunate end. As a bonus, it's spooky enough to satisfy mild horror cravings but suitable for older kids so you can watch it with the family!
Besides, the lead male actor is very expressive and one of the prettiest male actors I've ever seen. Must go find his other movies so I can stare lustfully at him some more :D
I sort of liked this and sort of didn't. It's not a straightforward movie to review.
The acting was wonderful, there's some fantastic cinematography and tension building direction - reminiscent of Hitchock. The story is OK, some character development and you do care what happens to them. Lashings of spooky atmosphere. Quite creepy at times and moody with a hint of Gothic.
On the other hand, there are some very silly plot holes and devices, not enough depth/backstory etc to the characters, the ending is rubbish and there are several annoying bits that just go on far too long.
Spoiler alert*** I first got unforgivably distracted & annoyed in a scene where Pinky keeps getting in and out of an elevator with some mildly spooky goings on around her. It got to the point where I was yelling "Oh for gawds sake stop getting in the damn elevator!" because it all seemed so pointless and stupid. It was wasted footage (one of my pet peeves) and didn't add anything to the movie, in fact it detracted severely from the overall suspense. The "spooky goings on" became boring and mundane due to their repetition (with nothing really happening) so it ended up being less scary than say... rats running around in there. Our girl seemed awfully scared tho. So why didn't she take the stairs at any point? Not to mention her ridiculous reason for all this leaping about in elevators.
Another example is the fairly tense and climactic "screaming at the door scene". Seriously, it felt like that scene just went on for years with nothing changing, not even the dialogue. Just the same lines being repeated (screamed) for I dunno, 10? 15 minutes. Maybe it just felt that long. At this point I started fast forwarding the vid because the whole scene was irritating me beyond reason. And once a movie has me reaching for the FF button it's pretty much all over bar the shouting. Goodbye suspense/horror/thrills etc. It was just "yeah OK so when does something interesting happen & how fast can I get to the final scene" I fast forwarded most of the final half hour at least. Shame because I think the flick has so much going for it but was let down by a few serious bungles.
I recommend this movie for fans of subtle horror, suspense & drama but not for hard core horror/gore/slasher/thrill-seeker fans. Next to OldBoy or Audition this is Mary Poppins.
Lastly an observation - It felt like the Director wanted to make a statement about battered wives - and I applaud him for that. It doesn't detract from the film but makes it a bit more serious-minded than most horror/ghost stories.
I say go ahead and rent it! It's better than about 90% of the dross out there and has enough suspense and intrigue to keep it interesting till the somewhat unfortunate end. As a bonus, it's spooky enough to satisfy mild horror cravings but suitable for older kids so you can watch it with the family!
Besides, the lead male actor is very expressive and one of the prettiest male actors I've ever seen. Must go find his other movies so I can stare lustfully at him some more :D