Good payoff ... but at what cost?

Rating: Null/10 (10 October 2009)

The last ten minutes of this movie may be the creepiest ten minutes of any movie in at least two decades. That being said, ten minutes doesn't make a 99 minute movie a good film. The story was predictable and poorly told, and the first hour and twenty minutes were repetitive and truly boring. I read somewhere that people were walking out of the film because it was so scary, but that's not the case at all. People walked out of the film because it takes much too long to provide any sort of entertainment. I feel sorry for the people who lasted an hour and left, only to miss a very good payoff. I can't recommend spending the $10-$15 to see this film, but once you've sat through that first excruciatingly boring hour, you really need to stay and see the payoff.
I wish the filmmakers would have found a writer who could have build a story and the characters so that the payoff left the audience feeling like they saw a great film, rather than feeling like "it's about time". Sure, if you are one to be scared by films, the ending will creep you out. But if you are looking for a lasting horror experience coming from a well made and scary 99 minute horror film, you will be disappointed. In my opinion, the ending was good enough to make me glad I didn't leave, but overall I wish I had seen something else. The sum of the experience is negative. This was a missed opportunity.