More Disturbing Than Scary

Rating: 4/10 (11 December 2010)

Apparently, I'm psychologically susceptible to the "reality cinema" style. I rented this movie from Netflix and watched it last night at home by myself. I missed all of the viral marketing buzz and hype about it when it first came out, so I didn't know that it was supposed to be an "astounding" horror film. I didn't have any real expectations before I watched.
So I watched it, and then went to IMDb afterward to see what other people thought of it. I have to say that reading all of the reviews trashing this movie is fun. I never knew there were so many clever ways to say that a movie stinks! I won't try to write one of those reviews, as there are so many already.
Basically, I have to agree with them. Overall, this move is a mess. There is minimal character development and minimal plot development. The storyline is so fragmented and underdeveloped that it's almost non-existent. The dialog is lame and mostly consists of the lead couple yelling at each other. Like all stock horror movie characters, the couple inexplicably does one stupid thing after another that puts them further in harm's way, and fails to do obvious things that might give them more safety and more control over whatever they're dealing with. If I were judging the movie on those attributes alone, I would give it a "0.1".
And yet, I have to admit that the movie did succeed in giving me the creeps. It didn't "scare" me but it definitely got under my skin. A lot of reviewers here have said that the movie isn't scary at all. If it were a "standard" horror film, not reality cinema, I'd completely agree. Except for a couple of incidents towards the end of the film, nothing truly "scary" happens, and even those scary incidents in themselves are pretty trite by horror movie standards. Even my eyes rolled at some of the "paranormal activity" such as the scene where the Ouija board catches fire. And yet, taken as a whole, the movie really did creep me out.
I guess it must be the reality cinema that hooks me. And that's strange, because I really don't like that movie style. The shaky and omnipresent camera is annoying, and the visual frame gets claustrophobic way before the movie ends. But, at least this time, it worked on me. If this were a standard horror movie, its paranormal activity scenes would be laughably lame. But the reality cinema style puts me in the frame of mind where I feel like I'm watching something that's happening in real life. And if this stuff was happening to me in real life, especially in the middle of the night, I'm sure I'd be "on edge".
So, in fairness, even though I think the movie is bad overall, I have to give at least a few stars. Also, I have to give the actors some credit too. Other reviewers have trashed their performances, but I think they did as good as a job as just about any professional actor would have, given the dialog and script they had to work with. I thought the male lead, Micah, was especially convincing as the cocky, grown-up frat boy who thinks he can take any problem by the balls. Too bad he couldn't have done that to the writer and director. And the female lead, Katie, lets loose the most blood-curdling screams I've ever heard.
My recommendation is, if you're susceptible to the reality cinema style like I am, and you enjoy a movie that creeps you out more than bludgeons you, go ahead and watch it, preferably alone and in the dark.