great moody light horror but horribly weak ending

Rating: 6/10 (16 April 2015)

Covington is an odd isolated village. There are mysterious creatures "Those We Don't Speak Of" lurking in the woods. They are supposedly attracted to specific colors and the villagers wear the safe yellow when they are close to the woods. The villagers have a truce with the creatures. However suspicious animal carcasses suggest that the truce has been broken. Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) wants to travel to other towns to get medical supplies. He is denied by the town elders and his mother Alice (Sigourney Weaver). Ivy Elizabeth Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the blind daughter of the chief Elder Edward Walker (William Hurt). She is kind to village idiot Noah Percy (Adrien Brody). When Ivy and Lucius get engaged, a jealous Noah stabs Lucius. In desperation, Ivy goes out to get medicine with the help of her father.
It's an interesting movie for about 2/3 of the time. It has a nice moody vibe. At time, it borders on horror. It's a really fascinating movie. I wish Bryce Dallas Howard is better at playing blind. I also wish William Hurt's character doesn't reveal so much. It deflates the movie. Her odyssey loses much of the tension. Instead of fearing some mysterious boogeymen, the audience is left with nothing more than the random falling into a hole. It tries to recover with a strange mysterious thing. I wish it stayed with the surreal turn. It would work infinitely better if William Hurt would shut up. None of it could really saved this from a truly weak ending. People really hate it when their TV show ends with these kinds of reveal. I think Shyamalan got a taste of the reaction.