Twilight Zone type story, but slow in telling it

Rating: 5/10 (17 November 2006)

The underlying premise of this story has been addressed before, as long ago as Twilight Zone, and would have been better off in a shorter format like the Zone. The movie has some merit, but because of the feature length duration of the film to get across its single idea, the movie drags quite a bit.
There's a lot of stylish smoke and mirrors, promising but rarely delivering a cache of meat and potatoes substance behind them. One example is the focus on devising unique camera angles and movements, and they are innovative, but what you see is not really telling a story. For example, the frantic turns from left to right reminded me of a Driver's Ed instruction video more than a movie. In one case, the character making these looks to the left and right was supposed to be blind, making these movements even more distracting as glaring plot holes. Another problem was how the film prolonged certain things unnecessarily, such as how the townspeople banter over who will go on a mission to obtain something. They argue over this issue seemingly forever, until I could almost hear Rod Serling turn over in his grave and yell for the film to get on with it.
The acting really isn't bad, but hardly anybody is given much to do, except Bryce Howard, and her frightened, winsome, innocent character is played well. The period linguistic styles were useful, but the lines seemed strained at times. Also, the speeches add to making the already obvious "secret twist" even more predictable. The mysterious and rarely seen forest creatures are utilized well for their function in the story.
The movie endeavors to make a point, and to some extent, it succeeds. It just labors to get there. If you're expecting horror or suspense from this movie, you will be disappointed. If you like Twilight Zone/X Files type material, you may find some value in it.