Too long and not very scary, but well crafted and entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 2019)

First off, this film is intended to be a summertime horror flick, so it is required that you ignore a few too-convenient coincidences and unbelievable actions (or lack of normal behavior) on the part of the victims. There are several in this movie, as in most of the genre.
The film itself is well constructed and flows nicely throughout, with only a few minor parts that drag. The acting is pretty darn good from the entire cast as well.
I wasn't a fan of "Hereditary" because it just strained the limits of believability, and given the publicly advertised/reviewed nature of this flick, it would stand to reason I'd feel the same here, but I don't. This film is much more cohesive and steady than "Hereditary" and it flows forward with minimal of the absolutely unbelievable occurrences that plague the first film. (daughter getting decapitated in car; son doing/saying nothing at all to his parents, etc.), keeping the audience just engaged enough in wondering what's going to happen to our intended victims.
All in all this was a very pleasant film that I actually liked better than other films to which it is being compared ("Wicker Man" for example). Perhaps it's a bit over-long and about a combined 30 minutes could have been shaved from various scenes, including the finale. Still, the positives outweighed the negatives for me and I'm comfortable giving this one a solid 8-stars.