While not quite living up to the hype, it's reassuring to see a film like this in the theatre anyways.

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2010)

Just saw this film tonight and had reasonably high expectations. Mostly they were met.
We meet a middle class, happy, seemingly normal West Coast couple at the beginning of the film - Katie and Micah. They live in a very nice house in San Diego and all seems well save for the fact that Micah has just spent a whole bunch of money on video and computer equipment so he can conduct surveillance on the house, particularly while they are sleeping.... As the story unfolds, we learn that Katie has a rather sinister past and appears to have been, and still is, the target of some kind of sinister spirit or presence. A visit from a psychic sheds some light on the situation - he agrees that there is a presence in the house and explains the difference between demons and spirits. He recommends the couple speak to a Demonoligist but Micah is against this. As the nights go by the presence becomes more and more bold in it's actions and some of the scenes, even now in retrospect, are making my hair stand on end.
The good stuff - the acting and actions of the characters are very believable. At the beginning of the film Katie is a happy-go-lucky student and by the end she has very nearly lost her mind. Micah goes from being cocky and (thinking he's) in control of the situation to being inwardly scared but not showing it, and then completely frustrated and ultimately powerless to do anything to help protect the girl he loves. The house goes from being a warm, homely dwelling to something very much like a prison - claustrophobic and cold. The special FX are used sparingly but are very effective in the scenes that they do feature in. The sounds effects are also quite cool.
The bad - a little more background on Katie would have been nice and added another dimension to the proceedings. Also, the reaction of the psychic when he visits a second time was somehow not played as well as it could have been. Minor complaints.
See it if you like to be scared and enjoy getting the adrenaline flowing.
7/10