Slow, Boring, Not Scary, Slow Boring..You Get The Picture.

Rating: 7/10 (23 August 2001)

What's really a shame about this movie is that it could (and should) have been a sleeper hit. But because of it's slow pace and lack of any scary jump-out-of-your-seat moments, the film falls to mediocre. The atmosphere was perfect for this film. Located on an abandoned island sits an old manor house with a cemetery next to it. It doesn't get much better then that for a ghostly atmosphere. We learn that Grace and her husband Charles are the owners of the house and live there with their 2 children Anna and Nicholas. The husband had left to fight in the England / German war and has not returned. There are strange rules in the house, which Grace cryptically explains to her new servants are important. Each of the fifty doors in the house must be locked before another can be opened. The curtains must always be drawn. The daylight can actually injured her children and cause swores and burning if they stay in the light to long. Three strangers appear at the door looking for work. Grace had put in an ad for servants to cook and clean the old manor, or did she? Now, with all of this going for it you would expect at least 3-4 scary moments with the first hour, right? WRONG!! Besides some creaking doors and floors, a piano that plays by itself and won't stay locked and a paranoid Grace and her son, there wasn't a single scary moment in the first hour. There are only 2 scenes that will have you jumping out of your seats, and that just isn't enough. I was literally dozing off during this movie and my girlfriend was "sighing" wondering when something interesting was going to happen. As for the acting, Nicole Kidman did an admirable job, but little Alakina Mann who played the daughter Anna (in her very first movie), literally stole the show. This girl was brilliant. Not only was her dialogue spoken cleaning with precise timing, but her facial emotions were dead on. At times she looked very erie and subdued. Even the little boy who played Nicholas (James Bentley) did a wonderful job. Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), who did an outstanding job in Waking Ned Devine was perfect for this role and showed her acting talent very well. Nope..it wasn't the acting that killed this movie, it was the script.
Everyone is calling this a Sixth Sense clone and in some ways, it is. Most people will figure out the twisted ending long before it gets there. I did! If the writer had let the cat out of the bag half way through the movie and then provided a new interaction between the characters, things could have been a bit different. Instead, the solution was told and the movie ended, just like that. Definitely wait for this to hit the video store. If this movie came out back in the 50's or 60's it might have been worth a look, but with everyone expecting a modern day ghost story, the film just doesn't live up to anyones expectation. Take a pass on this and wait for the next haunting movie.