Somewhere between Hostel and Child's Play

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2009)

This is one of those classic love it or hate it movies. If you liked Blair Witch, check it out. If you liked any of the recent crop of "torture-porn" movies (Saw, Hostel, Last House on the Left, anything by Rob Zombie), avoid it. While some of you will be exceptions to the rule, I'd say this is a fairly adequate dividing line. A more complete distinction would include "see the villain" (Cloverfield & Quarantine) or "don't see the villain" (Blair Witch).
This movie isn't perfect. No one is as dense as the boyfriend or as flighty as the girlfriend. The selling point is the creepy atmosphere. It's what you don't see. It's the implication that "this could happen to you", without the the disturbing "this has happened to someone and we're gonna show you how" feeling of torture-porn flicks. Even if you don't believe that something like this could happen, there are more than a few real world accounts of similar happenings. If nothing else, that makes it a little scarier than killers in hockey masks, vampires, and zombies.
I enjoyed it immensely, despite some major flaws. But then, I'm on the Blair Witch side of the line. As much as I enjoy a good zombie flick, this is the kinda film that gives me the heebie-jeebies. It's obviously not for everyone. But, if your fear meter falls between horrible things that can happen and bizarre things that could never happen, check it out. Everyone else will probably be a little (or a lot) disappointed.