What a let down

Rating: 5/10 (30 October 2011)

Okay - creepy children scare the hell out of me. I normally avoid watching these types of films - but, hey it's Halloween so, why not. True enough, the opening 45 minutes was very tense with some great scares and strong direction from the safe hands of James Wan. Whilst not avoiding every horror cliché, Wan does well to keep the camera moving and not telegraphing the jumps. However, in my humble opinion it's the second act where it takes steep nosedive and ruins most of it's early hard work. The plot becomes pretty ludicrous and negates any fear, by being, basically dumb. Out of body flying children and demon faced wierdos aren't nearly as scary as a good old fashioned ghost boy. The father having experienced this all as a boy and being the only one who could save his son, along with the obligatory 'Twist' ending were all signposted a mile away and by the time it was finished, I wasn't even nearly scared. Just a bit bored.