Very good movie...

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2003)

I really liked this movie. I actually read the reviews about this movie before I went to see the movie, so I knew what I was getting into. Since the tickets were a $1.50 a pop, I wasn't gonna shed many tears had the film turned out to be as bad as the critics on this board have labeled it. To me, this film was a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't." Don't know what I mean? Well... several folks in their reviews above have pompously stated that the first hour of the film was great and the last hour, unfortunately, wasn't so great. Well, if that was the case, then the first half of the movie was shaping up to be yet another movie based on the premise of a shadowy Jason Vorhees stalking unsuspecting victims with a... how original... a knife. Don't get me wrong, the first half of this movie - based on this premise - was done extremely well. To me, it was the latter half of the film that saved it - made the movie so innovative, in a genre that is desperately lacking originality these days. However, had the movie turned out to be nothing more than a sophisticated slasher film, than no doubt these same "critics" would have howled and whined and moaned about how "unoriginal" this film was, how it was retreading where other movies have walked before it. So, in the end, "Identity" can't really win. By changing or "pulling out the rug" to stay original, the movie is blasted. Yet, had it stayed true to its roots shown in the first hour of the film, it would have been labeled as a "tiresome retread" or "unoriginal."
So in the end, don't listen to this "would-be, wanna-be critics." This is a great film with a neat twist. It's not about a lunatic on the loose with a knife. It's not about (gag!) vengeful Native American spirits or aliens from the Pleades. It's a great movie with great twists and great character development that won't leave you disappointed.
My only criticism is the last 2 minutes of the film. The movie would have been perfect had it ended with the "triumphant personality" driving off to Florida and enjoying those acres of oranges. Somewhere in the "Hollywood rulebook" it states that a horror movie *must* have a shocking, evil ending. Why? It WOULD be innovative to have a movie of this type ending happily, with good triumphing over evil. You know, it's been so long ago since a horror movie ended happily that such an ending now would again seem refreshing and... wow!... shocking.
Other than the appearance of the missing child in the end, a great movie. 9/10.