That so many people fawn over this movie is a phenomenon.
Let me keep this short.
This movie's "surprise ending" consists in revealing that most of the characters (minus the protagonist) were, in fact, dead = 3/4 of the plot didn't even take place in reality, it's a figment of the protagonist's imagination. Which, unlike the ending of "The Others", makes you feel cheaply tricked, as that means 3/4 of the scares that were supposed to make you crap your pants never took place.
The rest is one mess of a plot (notice the fine difference between "messy" and "mind-f*ckingly complex"), that still manages to be boring, with nothing but jump scares, slow zooming of doors with "tension-building" muzak, and sudden blasts of various FX - sickeningly hackneyed techniques that by now, in this day and age, should scare NOBODY. The hard-of-hearing must be falling asleep during this puppy.
Most of the "scary" scenes seem totally random and for-their-own-sake. Scary if one's still easily scared, yes, but upon further inspection utterly irrelevant and pointless. For instance, why... WHY do we need to see yet ANOTHER pale-Asian-woman-with-black-hair-over-her-face, moving-in-a-twitchy-manner type of deal? WHY? Is anyone still scared of that? And why is there blood coming out of her womb? What's that supposed to symbolize? An abortion? What abortion? Oh, wait, I get it - it looks "scary", so who gives a crap about what does it all mean, right?
If the younger sister wasn't even there (she's long dead, the older sister is imagining her), then the solo scary scenes involving only her are nothing more than a cheap gimmick, as they couldn't have taken place - there's no older sister around to imagine her. Makes for a great aftertaste.
Etc. etc.
Wake up, dear viewers. You've been tricked by cheap chicanery.
P.S. The camera-work and the colors were quite stylish.
Let me keep this short.
This movie's "surprise ending" consists in revealing that most of the characters (minus the protagonist) were, in fact, dead = 3/4 of the plot didn't even take place in reality, it's a figment of the protagonist's imagination. Which, unlike the ending of "The Others", makes you feel cheaply tricked, as that means 3/4 of the scares that were supposed to make you crap your pants never took place.
The rest is one mess of a plot (notice the fine difference between "messy" and "mind-f*ckingly complex"), that still manages to be boring, with nothing but jump scares, slow zooming of doors with "tension-building" muzak, and sudden blasts of various FX - sickeningly hackneyed techniques that by now, in this day and age, should scare NOBODY. The hard-of-hearing must be falling asleep during this puppy.
Most of the "scary" scenes seem totally random and for-their-own-sake. Scary if one's still easily scared, yes, but upon further inspection utterly irrelevant and pointless. For instance, why... WHY do we need to see yet ANOTHER pale-Asian-woman-with-black-hair-over-her-face, moving-in-a-twitchy-manner type of deal? WHY? Is anyone still scared of that? And why is there blood coming out of her womb? What's that supposed to symbolize? An abortion? What abortion? Oh, wait, I get it - it looks "scary", so who gives a crap about what does it all mean, right?
If the younger sister wasn't even there (she's long dead, the older sister is imagining her), then the solo scary scenes involving only her are nothing more than a cheap gimmick, as they couldn't have taken place - there's no older sister around to imagine her. Makes for a great aftertaste.
Etc. etc.
Wake up, dear viewers. You've been tricked by cheap chicanery.
P.S. The camera-work and the colors were quite stylish.