Very creepy

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2014)

An extremely creepy film that manages to explore the darker side of human (and, possibly, inhuman) nature without wallowing in blood and overt violence. There is certainly plenty of violence and cruelty in the film, but these are largely implied rather than shown, and this is the film's strength.
The opening scene hits the viewer right between the eyes with a horrific event captured by the cold eye of an old-fashioned 8mm camera. The viewer immediately wants to know why this is being filmed (a question later asked by the central character), and this becomes the movie's theme.
As Ellison Oswalt, a once successful true crime writer desperate to repeat his one success - now years in the past - Ethan Hawke makes an excellent Everyman and is convincing throughout. The rest of the cast are competent, but this is almost (not quite) a solo show. The film builds to a powerful climax, the only wrong note being that the spectres (when they appear) are too solid and prosaic, like children in face paint, marring the earlier mood of barely-glimpsed evil. Overall, though, well worth viewing.