A complex, layered film that is an unsatisfying imitation of The Sixth Sense

Rating: 1/10 (6 April 2003)

***There are spoilers in this review***
I doubt that any medium has ever captured so many shades of blue as this film has. The cinematography is gorgeous: the pacific northwest, in all its rainy, forested glory, is wonderfully depicted in this luscious movie.
As much as this film strives to rid itself of its Hollywood-horror movie roots, unfortunately it falls back into them again, as evidenced by the fact that there are not just one but two prescient, sepulchral children (an old Hollywood standby), one of them so evil that her mother kills her. The premise of this film is intriguing: a strange videotape surfaces at a remote cabin, four teenagers die, and there's a big mystery. The object is to solve the mystery before you die.
This film isn't as scary as the beginning would have you believe. Much of the time is spent solving the mystery of the weird video, which, as the film nears its conclusion, is clear that it was most likely shot and edited somewhere in the afterworld. Seems like a ghost would use a higher-quality medium like a DVD. Evil characters usually make sense, but Samara's motivations make none. Why a videocassette? Why kill people seven days after they watch it, why not just roam the world killing people indiscriminately? Why would Richard Morgan steal the videocassette of Samara's psyche-ward interview if he couldn't stand his daughter? And just what was the connection between the cabins and the Morgan family? Who built the cabin over the well and for what reason, did they know they were hiding a murder scene? And how could Samara draw the tree on her `bedroom' wall when she didn't even see it until just before she died? The plot holes get bigger and bigger as the film progresses.
Although the characterizations are quite good, even complex, they are ruined by the unnecessarily confusing ending. Why would Samara go after Noah and leave Rachel and Aidan alone, when Rachel and Aidan saw the tape before Noah did? And given the expectation that all people who view the video will die, how could Rachel possibly hope to deter Samara by feeding the videocassette to unsuspecting viewers? Sooner or later, she's coming back to get Rachel. This film starts out really strong, but the improbabilities pile atop each other until you have a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

This film is like the proverbial dumb blonde: she looks pretty, but when she opens her mouth to talk, it's pretty clear that her porch light is flickering. If you want scary, see Rosemary's Baby or The Blair Witch Project, two horror films which happen to be pretty and smart, a rare combination indeed.