Unadulterated Trite

Rating: 1/10 (7 August 2007)

This film is a one-trick pony that's far more nag than it is thoroughbred and would be more effective as a half-hour episode of The Outer Limits. Any potential suspense is nullified in the opening 15 minutes, when it is explained that the apparitions seen by Haley Joel Osment's character are appealing to him for assistance, rather than having any sinister intentions. Therefore, no matter in what manner the spectres appear, the audience has already been made aware that no harm is intended to the major character and that to classify the film as a horror is wide of the mark, as no threat or danger is present in any scene. This leads the audience to then cogitate on the big "twist" which is central to the plot (and I would even go so far as to say that it is the only plot in the whole turgid affair). I'm afraid to say that I worked this out within the first half an hour, leading to an excruciating remainder of the film, where it is consistently rammed down your throat that the kid sees dead people, the kid helps dead people and that Brucey's character is seen by the kid. Even my friend (who I went to the cinema with) who didn't work out the ending said that it was unadulterated trite, so I should thank him for my summary line, as I couldn't have expressed this film in a single phrase any better than this. Anyone who finds this film even remotely scary, complex, or views it as a classic psychological horror clearly needs to watch a Hitchcock film and try to raise their intellectual standards above a primary school (6th grade) level. On the plus side, I thought the cinematography was excellent, so kudos to you Tak Fujimoto. Oh, and if you can't work out the "surprise ending" after reading this review, you're exactly the sort of person that will find this film thoroughly entertaining!