Pretty scary, but...

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 1999)

I went into this movie not knowing any of the (apparently quite extensive) backstory, or having been exposed to much of the (also apparently quite extensive) hype. The only reason I went was that my best friend who, unlike myself, actually enjoys horror movies, dragged me. I dislike horror movies; I do not enjoy being scared at all.
That said, I found the film's execution to be extremely effective. It scared me a lot more than gallons of blood and incessant computer-generated special effects could have. The reason is that it had very little overt shock material. Instead, it built up a creepy atmosphere and let the audience' imagination fill in the blanks. The fact that it was filmed in a quasi-realistic manner, without any discernible production values, made willing suspension of disbelief that much easier. There was no soundtrack to remind you "hey, this is a movie." There were no special effects. The footage was not a perfect, obviously studio-polished product. It was essentially a 90-minute campfire ghost story.
In short, I suspect that anyone with a functioning imagination will be frightened by this movie. Anyone who approaches it from a purely passive standpoint ("I'm not going to think at all while I watch this.") will not be scared, because the movie never actually shows anything scary; it just prods you into frightening yourself, which in the end is far more effective than if it had ended with some Lovecraftian horror popping out and devouring Our Heroes. There will always be someone out there who says "Hmm... I always pictured Cthulhu as being more of a purplish colour." However, by avoiding any direct encounter with the monster, no one is disappointed. Their imagination will come up with something that is frightening to them, without having to worry about what the filmmakers thought would look/sound/act scary.