very good first half, not sure why everyone thinks the second half was so great

Rating: 6/10 (15 July 2011)

I was pretty excited about this film. Didn't get a chance to see it in the theaters but all of the reviews I read talked about it being a really good horror film that keeps things simple. I'm not a fan of stuff like Saw, Hostel, and other torture porn kinds of stuff. I enjoy a good ghost thriller, haunted house kind of thing (Blair Witch, The Others, The Shining).
So, the positives first. I thought the first half was good, nothing particularly ground breaking but nicely paced and staged. The opening credits are cool and when the title hits, I was reminded of Suspiria and other off beat 70's horror pics. The simple hints that were dropped at the beginning (dad isn't in any of the family pictures, kid draws odd pictures that mom and dad think are cute but obviously are a little too weird to be ignored) served to create a bit of an ominous atmosphere. The weird events that happen at night are staged well and provide some good, startling moments. I was excited to see where it was all headed.
During the 2nd half, things seemed to turn a bit odd and honestly, kind of comic. I thought the set up was good with the grandmother and psychic providing some interesting weirdness to the explanation of the kid's coma as an extended astral projection where his soul was trapped by a demon. The initial stuff in the kid's room with the psychic describing the demon and the subsequent séance with the gas mask and such was really good, and staged well (though it got a bit goofy at the end).
Once the dad projected into the dark world to rescue the son, things just kind of went down hill. Everyone said this last 30 minutes was the scariest stuff, but it was just like some kind of bad carnival ride. The mannequin looking people murdered by another mannequin looking woman. The weird guy with half a face that the dad eventually just tosses across the room, that was kind of dumb. But then, when we actually encounter the demon, he's like an even cheesier version of the demon in Jeepers Creepers (and that's hard to do). Sharpening his nails while weird music plays. Another example of a scary villain that isn't scary once revealed fully. People need to watch Alien to see why less is more in the monster department. Plus, honestly, the demon looked too much like Darth Maul.
So, there isn't actually a battle between dad and demon. Dad just runs like hell, gets lost in the dark, finds a way back to the house and then suddenly, there's the witch woman who hounded him as a child. The solution, dad stares in the mirror and yells, yep he yells at her. Just a throwaway scene. And then of course, when all seems right with the world, guess what...dad is actually now possessed by the witch and is going to kill his whole family...fade to black.
So, it's fun and I think plenty of people will find the whole thing frightening but I just don't get why some people think this is the scariest film they've ever seen. But hey, to each his own I suppose.