This movie was getting good early reviews and the trailer looked pretty good, so I went to see it. I haven't read the book or seen the original adaptation, so I can't compare this to those, but this is an intensely mediocre movie. I have the same problem with this movie that I had with the IT film from a couple years ago: they do an ok job setting up a creepy atmosphere, then they try and do something with it and you get a pretty mediocre jump scare. I can only assume many of the reviewers who called it "horrifying" or said that "you'll remain on edge well after it concludes" have never seen a horror movie before. It's got a couple of weird things that I thought were subplots, but they never actually did anything with. I'm not sure if if that is a holdover from the book, or just an attempt to rush through the movie. It's only about an hour and half, so I don't see why there couldn't be more of an expansion on some points.
Some random thoughts, maybe someone who read the book can clarify some points for me:
Some random thoughts, maybe someone who read the book can clarify some points for me:
- The first jump scare is right after the family moves to the house. Husband and wife are talking, all of a sudden semi-truck blasts by at 800mph. This startles wife, except I have no idea how she couldn't hear it coming. I know why the audience didn't hear it coming though: hack writing to create a jump scare and "foreshadowing". The driver is laying on the horn while blowing past too, which... why?
- In the same vein of terrible film-making, at the little girl's birthday party we see here running into the street to go hang out with zombie cat, just sitting there. That's fine, I know she's about to get smacked by a truck, even if I'm just wondering why she's such a retard that she just sits in the road. After that, we get the truck incoming and then the movie cuts to the little two or three year old running towards the street. Why? I already know the little girl is sitting there, it doesn't add any tension to the scene or anything. All it does it make it more awkward when dad saves the boy and little girl gets pancaked. Why were the parents not even paying any attention to either of their kids?
- I don't understand the old dude's motivation. I just kinda assumed he was "creepy old guy" character who would be evil, and he was the one who had the father bury the cat, but he seemed to be friendly to the family and genuinely like them, yet still helped bring the pet back to life seemingly knowing nothing good could come from it? I mean, he states "Well, my dog came back bad, but he had a mean streak, I thought the cat was nicer so it might work out", yet the movie also implies that he brought his wife back by burying there and that didn't go well either. He never tells the father this, of course. And if he had good and pure motivations trying to help bring the cat back, why is he so shady about it when he takes the dad to bury the cat in the first place? Really baffling.
- Speaking of baffling characters, the black ghost dude? First he tells dad "some boundaries shouldn't be crossed", then he brings dad to the burial ground area in a dream sequence, then when dad goes to bury daughter he tries warning dad against doing so, then we last see him telling mom and baby to go home to their death? Who even was he? As far as I could tell he was just some random college student. Why is he warning the father about the boundaries? Does he know the future? How does he know of the burial ground? Was this something more important in the book? My assumption after I left the theater was there were 2 versions of this spirit, one good and one evil, or something. It's the only way I could make sense of it.
- The Wendigo. Was this an important element in the book? You just get a sketch of the monster, then kinda see it in the background for a bit while the movie focuses on it, then never hear of it again.
- Does coming back undead make you super strong or something? I get why it was easy for her to take down and kill old dude, she ambushed and killed him. But then she's wrestling with the mother later, and I'm just astounded by the mother's apparent inability to take a nine year old girl in a fight. Then the mother just throws the girl off her at one point anyway.
