Beware the hype

Rating: 6/10 (5 August 1999)

I hate to leave myself open to the charge of being a wet blanket, but I've waited in vain to see someone else point out that this movie may well disappoint those who, like myself, had their expectations raised out of all proportion by the tremendous hype. I'll say first off that BWP is well made, with convincing performances and a truly terrifying last 2-3 minutes. Otherwise, I found it a disappointment.
Because so many reviews have hailed this as a deeply terrifying movie, I was actually afraid to go see it, being something of a wimp. I need not have worried: the film is tense, yes, even unpleasantly so, but the characters were not likeable enough to inspire great concern on my part, and the incidents that should have been frightening merely inspired interest and mild curiosity.
The one judicious use of gore was genuinely creepy and well executed (as it were), and, as I've mentioned, the final sequence is deeply scary. I think, though, that the much-lauded absence of Hollywood fakery actually worked against this film's effectiveness with me. The hand-held cameras actually made the entire film seem more artificial instead of more realistic, so that I was constantly aware that this was, indeed, only a film. This is a shame, since the situation is so promising and truly ought to have given me the shivers.
I offer my experience not to put down the many who have found the film everything it's cracked up to be, but only to suggest that for some--not all--viewers, it may not live up to their expectations. I wish it had lived up to mine.