It had some really good things going for it, and some not so good things. One of the good things is that the movie has a good way of setting up tension (even early on) and gradually building it more and more throughout the movie. The effects they used were all practical and fairly well done, and the acting was pretty good, even for the litte boy. It was even genuinely scary a lot of times.
Now some of the downsides of the movie is that it has its fair share of goofy moments, the most notable of which being the scene where the 2 boys are locked in the room with the monster under the bed, and theyre only very mildly concerned about it. The way they talk is so nonchilant for the situation theyre in, the monster is literally there roaring his head off at them and they dont seem too worried about it. I dont care if they have already been living with it for 2 years at that point, i would be scared s**tless if i was locked in a room with a monster that could come out at any moment. There were a couple other wierd moments like that throughout the movie but that was the biggest one for me.
Now to the movies credit, what i THINK the writers were going for here is to remind the audience of what it was like to have an irrational fear of imaginary monsters as a child, even if you know deep down that there really isnt anything there, and have the characters act like 2 real siblings talking about how they avoid their fears.
The movie never explains where the monster came from, and that itself is ok, but i would have preferred for them to at least address it, like maybe there could have been a line of dialogue where one of the boys say "i dont know where it came from, i just saw it one day" that would at least make the movie more grounded and "answer" a very big question it brings up.
So yeah, even though the movie has its weak points, its actually something i would recommend. It has its flaws, but also its shining moments. And those shining moments are worth it.
Now some of the downsides of the movie is that it has its fair share of goofy moments, the most notable of which being the scene where the 2 boys are locked in the room with the monster under the bed, and theyre only very mildly concerned about it. The way they talk is so nonchilant for the situation theyre in, the monster is literally there roaring his head off at them and they dont seem too worried about it. I dont care if they have already been living with it for 2 years at that point, i would be scared s**tless if i was locked in a room with a monster that could come out at any moment. There were a couple other wierd moments like that throughout the movie but that was the biggest one for me.
Now to the movies credit, what i THINK the writers were going for here is to remind the audience of what it was like to have an irrational fear of imaginary monsters as a child, even if you know deep down that there really isnt anything there, and have the characters act like 2 real siblings talking about how they avoid their fears.
The movie never explains where the monster came from, and that itself is ok, but i would have preferred for them to at least address it, like maybe there could have been a line of dialogue where one of the boys say "i dont know where it came from, i just saw it one day" that would at least make the movie more grounded and "answer" a very big question it brings up.
So yeah, even though the movie has its weak points, its actually something i would recommend. It has its flaws, but also its shining moments. And those shining moments are worth it.