It doesn't take a genius to know that a genius didn't make this movie.

Rating: Null/10 (3 August 2003)

SPOILERS!
This movie was pretty awful.
Throughout the movie, I was wondering exactly what the filmmakers were expecting me to be feeling. Should I have been feeling empathetic, anxious, fearful, horrified? None of those were part of the experience. First I was bored, then annoyed, then really annoyed, then angry.
This movie sets out to do what only a real genius can accomplish in a horror movie: causing fear without ever presenting the source of that fear on-screen. These filmmakers weren't geniuses.
The characters spent most of their time on-screen screaming at each other. This, in addition to the awful camera work and the black and white (mostly black) scenery made it a very unpleasant movie to watch, even for a horror flick. Also, the scenes are set in Maryland. I like the way Dave Barry put it when he said, "You get the impression that if they'd just shut up and WALK, in 20 minutes they'd come to a Wal-Mart."
The best thing about this movie is the last couple of seconds before the credits roll -- there is no screaming, and the camera is still. During the few minutes before this point, you're getting ready to either (1) see something cool, or (2) leave the theater.
I imagine that if you really really wanted to be afraid, this movie could probably help you out. But mostly it will just scare young grammar-school-age kids that still have the "monster under my bed at night" kind of phobias.
This movie could have had lots of potential. It started out with a really good idea that could have gone anywhere...and it didn't go...anywhere.