Scary as hell!

Rating: 10/10 (24 June 2016)

The film might have had faults, and it did, but I have a habit of going light on films that fulfill its purpose. The purpose of this one was to scare the hell out of you, and by God it deserves hundred percent marks for doing that so well. Not a minute goes by without killing suspense. The best of the lot was the knocking on the door, which I am sure they must have done using a hammer or something. It was terrifying, every little scene.
What was so unique about this horror flick was, and I have only watched a handful of those in my entire life, that the ghost in this one did his tricks when when other people were present. It usually goes like this in films that they make a target and then that target goes through all the haunting, he/she isn't trusted by anyone because the ghost goes completely missing when others are present. Here was a ghost with a clear thought process and a brave one too. Secondly, the usual script is that it takes off lightly and keeps getting stronger, but each scene in this film has been given equal and as much attention as for example an ending scene would. It was balanced out intelligently. So it was a lot different from many of the mainstream horror films. The film- makers deserve a huge amount of credit for making it feel so real. There might have been many other horror flicks that caused me nightmares in childhood and made me many sleepless nights, but as a grown-up into mid-20s, I can definitely attest that I haven't seen a film like this. Terrifying!
A bit sad that I only got time to watch this one nine days into its release over here in Germany. There were hardly eight people present in the theatre, two girls who screamed occasionally and were very noisy, but couldn't quite have the added fun that I did whilst watching 'Annabelle' (2014), which was a full house and very noisy (the noise is only good for a film of this genre mind you, not many others).
I was most curious about the whole story this film was based upon and did some reading into it. Interesting stuff. Whilst not necessarily needing to come to believe in ghosts and demons, I still respect what the family might have gone through back then. As someone who has been through a lot of medical conditions, some of which may sound outrageous to others, I have learnt that we should respect others' experiences and suffering. I'll just leave at that, without the need to get into whether the family played a prank, whether it could be a mental condition of the girl that might have led the family into believing that something else is going on, or even, again, there were demons indeed. You never know when the day might arrive that you suffer from something and no one believes you, therefore, I will just respect their experience.
Watching this film has reminded me of a couple of fears that I had in my childhood for example. One which stayed with me till we moved to Germany was, that whilst being asleep a dog would come and bite off my feet. This had history. Back in our village we used to sleep outside the rooms in summer, and a dog from our neighbourhood was notorious for having previously bitten people. As it happened, it climbed the wall and landed in our house, by a whisking passing by by uncovered feet. That frightening moment stayed on for months and months. The other being, watching a horror drama on some Pakistan TV channel. Actor Nabeel, who now works in the comedy TV serial 'Bulbulay' on ARY Digital, worked in it and would haunt his mother at night who masterminded his death in an accident. He would walk from one wall of the house to the other at nights, muttering "Aeyh zaalim maa'n (O' cruel mother)!" That was horrible for me! For months afterwards I regretted watching it, and only I know how much I went through and how much time I took to come out of them.
Lastly, I must add something outrageous here. Now, had I seen any pictures or videos of the film, or even had slight knowledge of this, I wouldn't have watched the film, or at least not taken my brother with myself. Coming straight to the point, the house in it, its shape, form and appearance from outside 10 out of 10 matches to the building in which my brother has an apartment. I was left speechless at the very first sight of the house from outside and from then on we both watched the film with as much personal touch as not many would possibly have.