Good try... but not quite.

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 1999)

I'll admit. Horror movies are not my thing in general. Growing up I cut my teeth on H.P. Lovecraft and early Stephen King stories, and the terror those writers could induce far outweighed virtually everything I ever could see in a film.
This movie was actually an excellent effort for first time film makers. I think that the acting was well done, and the basic idea was good (others here have given examples showing it's hardly a new idea, however). This was hardly a terrifying movie, though. Creepy? Sure. Spooky? You bet. Good movie making? Perhaps. Out and out scary? Sorry. I've spent a lot of time camping in some very out of the way places in the Appalachians, and I've seen some, to put it frankly, some "whacked out s**t" there. This movie speaks to those memes and gave me some chills, and in that regard, it worked.
I recommend you stow the hype surrounding this picture somewhere where it won't intrude while you're watching.