A total mess

Rating: 3/10 (7 November 2009)

This movie doesn't deserve the hype it gets at all. The plot is, as is oft the case with horror movies, rather trite and unimportant, but as long as its genuinely scary, it's all good. To say PA falls flat in actually being 'spooky' would be quite the understatement.
The 'spookiness' (which I'm putting between 'sarcasm' tags for a reason) takes a page from the Blair Witch Project style of suggestion. Unfortunately, PA suggests very little and what it does is just plain cheesy, predictable and completely cliché. We get some doors moving and some curtains ruffling, but for the first half of the movie, PA is simply a borefest. By then the mysterious shady assassin who we - of course - never really get to see, has stepped up his repertoire of douchebag tricks to slamming the door shut. Wow. "What a tweest!" would M. Night Shyamalan say, if by that he meant 'what a load of crap!'.
The characters' stupidity is only matched by the sheer amount of annoyment they instill upon the viewer. Cheap drama and impromptu bravado go hand in hand as the plot advances like a trainwreck to the nearest clichéstorm while the viewers stops wondering 'who or what is the demon torturing these people?' and 'when will these morons actually die?' While this movie may not deliver many chills, it will certainly give the viewer a sense of relief when the credits at last, mercifully, roll.
In short: this stuff wouldn't scare a toddler. Some would say this movie isn't for the faint of heart. These people are right, but seek their refuge in an understament: this movie isn't for anyone with half a brain. Avoid at all costs.