Starts off strong, then to a bland finish

Rating: 6/10 (13 February 2013)

I wasn't going to review this film, but then I felt like an unsatisfied horror fan customer by the time the credits rolled.
To start things off, the movie was so promising. The soundtrack was ingenious, with a heavy dose of indie ambient music, mixed with voices - many times I questioned whether what I heard was a moan from the scene or the music?
Cinematography was interesting. I liked the opening scene, the found footage really caught my attention, and the introduction of Ethan Hawk and his family's was well done. The long dolly shot with no cuts to open the movie kinda reminded me of a high end DV cam footage too. Real nice. No complaints in this department.
Characters were well played, kids not annoying, good acting all around. The young policeman looked a little like a criminal in his mannerisms, and he turned out to be fine, and the prof whom I thought was going to have a heavier role turned out to be really... small in his role. But I guess such details throw off the audience who like to guess where things are going. I'll give it to the film too for managing to avoid some cliché potholes, for example, with the boy in the box (brilliant).
Here comes my issues with this film (PERSONAL OPINION): PACING. In all of the jump scares, I wasn't scared at all. Not even a little heart jolt. In fact, when all of the jump scares occurred, I was focusing on the wrong thing on the screen.
I'm not a huge fan of jump scares, they are cheap, and really throw off the excellent mood setting that the cinematography and music and acting set. I personally found the other parts and basically anticipation to be more nerve wrecking than the actual scare itself. Some people have watched a similar movie 'Insidious' (same makers) and thought it was brilliant. I am one of the people who thinks Insidious works better as a 'circus freak show' type of horror as opposed to occult/supernatural horror.
As much as I love horror, blatant circus-like horror doesn't appeal to me. I found it blasé and 'too much'. Same issue I had with Insidious, I wished it was closer to authentic, classic, realistic and good supernatural horror. Or even a thriller. I don't mind a good psychological thriller either. But the scary 'kids' and the 'demon' were so .... blatant (i guess) till I was even mentally checking out the special effects, appliances and paint jobs they had for their characters.
I wasn't thrilled about the ending either. The last 10 minutes of the movie felt like it was trying to rush its end, 3 pictures from the prof and he doesn't shed any new light on the situation (I think Ethan Hawks got the message when the box of films refused to be burnt and gone), one very urgent phone-call from the policeman suddenly explained everything and why the family was about to be f***** in 2 seconds (really???), and with this new revelation and sudden info to process, the viewer is just supposed to accept that?? No fighting chance for the man's man Ethan Hawks at all? They seriously had him lay there like a sushi, while fate is being dealt out to him. MEH. Not even a surviving journal to detail his findings?
And what's that blood streaked wall of murals about? A bloody painted unicorn and is that a cartoon dick I see that zooms into a face?? I can't even tell if they are trying to insert humor or something. *Facepalm*
I thought the final footage was gonna be for a NEW family to chance upon but NOPE! We are shown what happens to the girl as she sketches her last picture; it feels like an extra reel, bonus footage, and the time would have been better spent on for example, showing how butchering is done the SAW fashion.
I was so disappointed how they served up a meaty intro and then gave up at the end, resorting to cheap techniques, cuts to speed time up, choosing to dwell on scenes that are not important, and neglect elaborating on what's most important.
If people didn't promise me the heavens when they left their reviews, I wouldn't be THIS disappointed. I would still say watch it, but please, don't expect the world lest you get disappointed like me.
===============SPOILERS HERE==============
I seriously question how little children are able to physically commit tall-order murders. From planning how to execute them, to having the kids acting like they aren't planning like they are going to kill people, to making sure that evidence left behind doesn't point to kid killing family, that's a lot of work! Most psychopaths put years into perfecting murder!!
Pulling dead weight into the pool isn't easy. Pulling dead weight into a car ain't easy. Tying dead weights up a tree ain't easy. It literally requires little kids to know strong knot-tying skills. Did the demon teach them all that? OMG. Demon has a future in education!