Watch it like a parody

Rating: 6/10 (18 May 2014)

There were points in the movie where I was surprised, but never truly frightened.
It's formulaic, it's predictable, and it's just plain not scary.
Most movies use foreshadowing. They want to be clever and make us guess at what's coming. If the director is good at it, you'll either be misdirected for a bigger set-up or get just enough to find little bits and pieces of information that keep it interesting. No movie should let you figure out the plot from the clues unless you're Sherlock Holmes.
But this movie practically ruins itself! The suspense was never there for me because it was given away by a veritable Reeses pieces trail. The director couldn't have done a worse job if he'd included small cut-scenes where he told you what to expect in the next scene. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.
The reasons that I'm giving even giving this movie a 6 out of 10 are. 1. It has some new takes on overdone horror themes. 2. Because halfway through, I made the mental shift to enjoy this as a comedy adventure rather than a horror movie. It made it a lot more enjoyable when I lowered my expectations and shifted genres.