a visitor.....

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2011)

For once, an original horror film from the USA, comes, and with no gore, or cctv footage, this turns out to be one of the most chilling haunted house/boy films to be released in a long long time.
Dalton is a boy who can project himself out of his body when he is asleep. The trouble is, he's been doing it for so long that demons have noticed and want his physical form.
He ends up in an inexplicable comatose state and the family, thinking that the house is haunted, move, but there troubles follow. The film doesn't rely on the performances of Wilson and Byrne, although they are very good, the film relies on all out scares, and even though they are the sort that contain shrieking strings from the soundtrack, and are predictable, they are delivered here in droves.
From the makers of Saw, you would expect gore, but here, there is none, even though the Billy puppet is featured in one scene, there is no gore, and this is another thing that is refreshing. There is also a lot of humour in the film, even though it's serious throughout, there will be laughs to had.
The film does borrow heavily from other films. Most notably, The Shining, House, BBC's Ghostwatch, The Exorcist, and Signs.
The first hour is pure mayhem, and has to be one of the best times i have spent in a cinema with an audience. But it goes a little ridiculous toward the end, when Wilson travels to the further, this is where the comparisons to the 1985 'classic' house come in.
Both the main protagonists in these films have to go into another 'dimension' to save a loved one.
But these days, who really cares about stuff like this, when you are entertained for the duration of the film and not bored once.
All in all, it's a great horror film, filled with dread, with a good ending, and one things for sure, you'll never see Darth Maul in the same light again.