Enh...Too predictable

Rating: 5/10 (13 October 2012)

My boyfriend and I didn't really have any expectations when we decided to go see this movie. Even with no expectations, we were quite disappointed. It was incredibly predictable and within the first 15 minutes of the movie, we had the whole plot figured out between the two of us. Because of the trailer, we already knew a lot of what was going to happen. There were a few twists, but they just didn't have that shock factor.
Let's talk background quality. The lighting in the movie was AWFUL. We could hardly see the set and even during the day everything was dark. In the 'nighttime' scenes, the windows were so lit up that we could never tell if it was day or night. The background music was pretty creepy, but we couldn't tell if some of the noises were background music or if they were noises in the house.
The scare tactics in the movie were pretty weak. The music stops right before something scary is supposed to happen, so that the loud noises will make you jump. The makeup on the dead children was totally out of context for the movie. And we couldn't understand how the rest of the family never heard him shouting or falling. The best scare was the lawn mower scene, as it was quite intense.
The plot 'twists' were pretty predictable. The audience is led to originally think that one of the children is the victim, but then it turns out to be the other child. The connection between the houses and the families moving was predictable, but a good twist nonetheless. The children being the murderers, however, was inevitable, and we saw it coming as soon as we heard about the missing children.
This movie was dragged out much longer than it should have been, but it didn't end happily as many scary movies do (as of recent years) so props for that. The last attempt at a jumpy scare was pathetic. The acting wasn't too bad. Not the best movie, but not the worst.