An incredibly odd film that just doesn't deliver

Rating: 4/10 (4 July 2013)

I found myself waiting with hope that this film might just pick up but apart from about 10 minutes, this film is as flat as glass and as dull as ditch water.
Don't get me wrong, Bale's acting was very good and he played the part of a creepy weirdo very well and the script was clever and contained many literal turns and twists. It's just the film itself lacked lustre, it had all the good hallmarks of a film that, after the first 20 steady minutes of introductions and getting the viewer embroiled in the plot turns into an absolute scorcher... But sadly after 20 minutes nothing really happened, and after 30, then 40... nothing. I did find myself hooked, hooked on waiting for something to happen... but it just didn't arrive.
Maybe the book was good, I don't know I have not read it. But I'm guessing that the subtle mind tinkering that many horror and thriller writers achieve in their novels just didn't transgress to the silver screen and instead you are left being delivered the plot outright without having to think... this pretty much left nothing else in the tin.
Shame, I had real high hopes for this film due to it's IMDb rating, but instead it just didn't deliver on the expectation.