2 entirely different ways to consider this scare-fest..

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2015)

If you take your movies as you find them, then welcome to one of the creepiest and scariest horror films of all time.
Essentially a hodge-podge of a number of proved themes and tropes (the "cursed objects" room from the series Friday the 13th; the classic and ubiquitous haunted house theme; paranormal investigators a la Hell House and Haunting; riffs off Exorcist etc), director James Wan (of the original SAW) basically gives a clinic in the correct way to do horror.
It is creepy terrifying and visceral. It builds like a prizefight, subtle at first, and by the end you are in the last round of a UFC match. And you are fighting the devil.
As horror entertainment, it does not get much better. You will probably sleep with the light on the night you see it. Or ask your grandkids to bunk over.
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The other way to look at this film is to de-construct it (like Whedon did with Cabin in the Woods) and say it is rather too dependent on other people's ideas.
And one could also say the script was a bit muddled.
For example, the opening sequence starts with the young daughter of the lead paranormal investigator sneaking into the room full of cursed objects --even though she had been told not to! -- and actually "connecting" with one.
Creepy. Manipulative. And just a little gratuitous -- but this is the result of trying to cram too many movie ideas into one script.
The "happy ending" (with sunlight and soft music) is welcomed as a relief by the audience (many of whom are trying to speed-dial their pharmacist by this point in the film) but also contains logic flaws big enough to drive a truck through.
Once again, the movie is about results and doesn't care how it gets them.
Now, if you REALLY REALLY want to see a horror film that relies less on throwing the kitchen sink at the audience, and more on pure smarts, check out IT FOLLOWS, released in 2015.
You're welcome.