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Tara (Lindsay Pulsipher), a timid outsider at her school, is involved in a collision between her bike and a van. She wakes to find herself in an awfully quiet 'hospital', watched over by a suspicious 'nurse', Judith (Lori Petty). It isn't until she tries to escape, and is thrown into the cellar, where she makes the acquaintance of Johnny (Jesse Haddock), that she comes to realize who her captors are, and what it is that they need from her.This is a nice study of parental obsession and inadequacy, mixed with a parable about the human capacity to forgive, and an ultimate tried and true horror story about people getting their just desserts. It's a stylish, and good-looking entry in the 'Masters of Horror' series. I found it to be enjoyably atmospheric, and, refreshingly, not 100% predictable. Some of the shots look pretty good. I was particularly impressed with the acting; Petty drops her usual tomboyish quirkiness for a very straight-laced performance as a mother who has let her grief get the better of her. Young co-stars Pulsipher and Haddock are very appealing and convincing. Meanwhile, William Samples as Anton gives a performance that is amusingly off-the-wall and hammy at times.Working from a teleplay by Matt Greenberg ("Halloween H2O", "1408"), director William Malone proves that he *does* have what it takes provided the right script comes along. With 'The Fair-Haired Child', it makes me interested to see how he will ultimately follow it up. As the summary of my User Comment attests, I thought that this was truly one of the better 'Masters of Horror' entries to be included in the first season. It's slick, entertaining, and a nice little spin on haunted house tales.8/10
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