I’m also now on sportstalkfromthe6.com
To hide from her abusive husband, Courtney Collins (Shannyn Sossamon) is living in a rural house with her 9-year-old-twins, Dylan and Zach (Robert Daniel Sloan and Dartanian Sloan). Dylan, meanwhile, is having nightmares and can’t sleep because he receives visits from the ghosts of kids who show him disturbing films of their families and others being murdered. All of this was started by Bughuul, an evil spirit who is recruiting children in the hopes of them murdering their families. Their family’s only hope may be in the form of a former deputy (James Ransone) who is familiar with Bughuul and his past exploits.
Keep in mind that I haven’t seen the first film so I am not qualified to compare it to the first. I am not completely sure if it makes any references to the first film except for James Ransone’s character who returns from the first film. Without giving too much away, the story in this film is just plain silly. There will be many moments that will make you ask why primarily because they are just stupid and/or not make sense. I found the characters not very likeable, especially the family. The characters aren’t too original and come off as cliche. There’s an overprotective, oblivious parent and naive, gullible children. One of the things I didn’t like about the film was the fact that a lot of it was told from the kids’s perspective. This would be okay in any other instance but what didn’t make it work for me was because of how annoying they were as well as what I previously mentioned. They were merely driving the plot forward but it just seemed too easy and unearned. The dialogue also did get pretty bad at certain moments, mostly ones involving the children. I also did not find this film very scary either as the majority consisted of jump scares which never got me, weird noises, and things moving on their own. I felt the story was very slow because it never really got going until near the end where it actually became a little scary but by then it was too late. What I also didn’t like that there was no real threat in the film as Bughuul was relegated to just popping out from unexpected places and unexpected times. The only real evil here were the creepy ghost kids who were really good at being creepy through their pale make-up and creepy dialogue (minus the cheesy stuff). The only real thing I liked about this film was James Ransone’s deputy. I liked the way that he awkwardly handled everything and that he wasn’t the standard, leading-man type. He was trying to be the lead but I just didn’t see it but I will say he came close. He also drove the plot as he was used mostly as a vehicle to steer us through most of the film’s scares. I will end by saying that this isn’t the best horror movie I’ve seen this year but it’s still watchable.
Score: 5/10
If you liked this, please read my other reviews here.
The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
