A Ho-Hum Pretend Documentary

Rating: 3/10 (11 August 2010)

First question: did the world really need another haunted house style of movie? I don't think so, although I suppose I can't argue with the fact that this movie has had decent reviews. And in fairness, given the very small budget it worked with it does what it does reasonably well. Still, I can't honestly describe this as a particularly good movie. To be blunt, the gimmick is getting a bit stale. It's filmed like "The Blair With Project" or "Cloverfield," a pretend-documentary shot with a hand-held camera (or, for the night scenes, a stationary camera) supposedly documenting the strange things happening in the house where Katie and Micah live. Katie has apparently had a history of these experiences, Micah inherited them so to speak when he moved in with her. I liked both of the afore-mentioned movies, so I can say that I have no particular problem with the style. This movie does little to draw the viewer in, though. For the first half hour very little happens, we spend a lot of time watching video being shot and then fast forwarded, there's a few mild chills - but nothing really exciting or frightening or shocking happens until the last fifteen minutes or so. I won't give the ending away, except to say that the very last scene struck me as silly, and it sets us up for a sequel that is apparently to be released in the fall of 2010. Frankly, the idea of a sequel doesn't get me enthused. This one was quite a disappointment.