Decent Premise spoiled by Hollywood Obsession

Rating: 5/10 (26 March 2009)

There's no doubting this has a good idea which is introduced, developed and built through sensible layers with some excellent action scenes thrown in for good measure. The mysterious supernatural occurrences add a neat twist and leave you slightly unsettled and unsure of exactly what is happening and where it's going. Excellent. Added to that we have a reasonable stab at developing the human theme through the father-son relationship and assorted family revelations. The set-up with the daughter and subsequent events are a bit clumsy though.
As the film gets to the final bend it's lining up nicely for a sprint to the finish. But then, bang!! Someone in the editing suite has removed the ending really filmed and stuck on 30 minutes of absolute tosh. Seriously, what happened? It was like X-files meets Last Temptation of Christ meets Contact. A mess basically.
Several sensible good endings came to mind as I walked out, all of which would satisfy the Hollywood need for deliverance, hope and salvation. What we got was a pile of drivel. Shame.