This is no ordinary scary movie

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 1999)

I'm of a generation that knows the horror genre primarily as a gore-ridden slasher fest. I'm talking about a type of movie that sought to scare through cheap shock tactics that never work the second time around (IMHO). This movie does not employ shock value. It keeps you guessing, keeps you wondering, keeps you worrying. This is not a fun scare. This movie follows you home and whispers things in your ear, conjures images from the movie in your mind, when you're trying to get to sleep. It takes our primal fears of the dark and unknown and makes them a raw, visceral reality. An experience of eight horrifying days is distilled into one eight-seven minute descent into walking nightmare. Do not watch it alone. Do not watch it at night. It is the most effective, consistently horrifying piece of cinema I have ever seen. I could not have imagined that a movie could scare me so much. Anyone who has not seen it should take heed: it will hurt your mind. It is not gross. It is hardly bloody. It is hardly violent. The R rating is primarily because of extensive profanity. But it should be rated R regardless of the profanity. Don't take your kids to see it unless they've done something bad.