More of an Idea than a Story

Rating: 5/10 (7 April 2015)

For the second time this week, I find myself at a loss and disappointed yet again by a horror movie lauded by critics. The first was "The Babadook" and the second being this little fright flick.
I understand the director's insatiable need to please critics and horror movie buffs with reference after reference to classic films. I can understand the attempt to create a "timeless" setting in which time periods clash inconsequentially in a repeatably jarring way. And I can even jive with the "artistic" cinematography with its long, lingering shots and odd angles for the sake of, well, art! What I can't forgive is the unmitigated sense that this entire thing was built off of an idea rather than a story. "Hey, let's have a throwback referencing every great horror movie and director under the sun, which hearkens on the sexual exploitation of horror slashers!" What's it about? "Well, just some thing that follows you around after you have sex with the wrong person." What's the plot? "Well, they're going to run from it. Stop someplace until it comes. Run from it again. Stop someplace else. And well, kind of do that for an hour and a half." There is no motive. There is no character development (in fact there is barely any character at all). There are no developing story arcs. And at the end, surprise, there is no resolution! Suffice to say, once again, I'm begrudgingly unimpressed by something that was slapped with a positive rating simply because it wasn't released by mainstream Hollywood. I know, it's hip to dig anything indie, but I guess that's something I haven't quite been able to follow.