Bad. Just bad.

Rating: 4/10 (24 April 2006)

I cannot believe the average user rating is as high as it is (7.0).
This movie was, for the most part, a joke. That was the general consensus of the opening-night crowd I saw it with - most of the theatre would burst out laughing at pieces of the 50's cheap-horror-flick dialogue ("The darkness is coming!") and the poor ideas for monsters (the little people that I can only assume were supposed to resemble children, oh-my-how-twisted). It was filled with all sorts of stereotypes and rip-offs, including (but certainly not limited to) your stock "scary little girl," a person suddenly appearing in the middle of the road while someone is driving, a young attractive woman lead, the demented drawings of a child, an ending curiously reminiscent (the same?!) of another fairly recent big horror movie, and - I mean, come on - a swarm of insects as a prominent figure in the cast of monsters (but the Fiend was kind of cool, even if he was used badly).
Now, I didn't give it a one, which would imply I didn't think it was *all* bad. This is true. Visually it was interesting in some parts, and I think the set-designer, the sfx team, and in some instances the chief cinematographer should be at least given a pat on the back for a good effort at saving a movie that was doomed to failure by its terrible script and lack of any situation that really went above the level of "suspenseful." I have not played the game, granted, so maybe I'm just way out of the loop and am not seeing the film's hidden greatness. But I actually think if I had played it that I would be insulted at the results of the transition of one of the great horror games to the big screen.
All-in-all, something to see if you liked the game, but nothing more.