As it goes, I'm rather fond of a well used horror cliché (and this movie has the lot) but it's the incoherent storyline which is so bothersome here.
How does a film like this ever get made? Why no story editor pointing out the glaring holes in the story? Irritatingly, it really wouldn't have taken that much work to make a decent haunted-house-horror movie of this shambles - the acting, sets, lighting, photography etc. are all perfectly competent. And although the film is never authentically scary, there are plenty of well handled BOO!-made-you-jump moments.
But the film is bursting with inconsistencies. By far, the most grievous and unresolved is the function of the ghosts themselves - what is their motivation, dear? Are they Goody Ghosts on a mission to protect the innocent family from The Killer in their midst? Perhaps - but why then keep attacking the nice family with brutal, spooky violence? They're an ugly bunch, so perhaps they are Really Evil Baddie Ghosts, intent on mindless mayhem. So how come they stop "haunting" as soon as they have exacted their revenge on the perpetrator of their own murders? And why would they be EVIL anyway? I mean, they seemed like perfectly nice (if a bit screamy) people when they were alive. And we never did find out who that little monkey ghost thing is which scuttles around the ceiling. The spirit of dodgy CGI perhaps. I could easily (easily) go on.
One (of many) lingering mysteries this movie leaves in its' wake is "who are the "The Messengers"?" Are they perhaps those squawky Hitchcockian crows, who flap about the film delivering no clear message of any sort? Or are "The Messengers" those confusingly nasty ghosts? Come to that, what exactly is The Message?
Anyway, my message to you - discerning, intelligent connoisseur of horror movies that you are - should be clear enough; don't waste your time on mediocrity, it'll only make you grumpy.
How does a film like this ever get made? Why no story editor pointing out the glaring holes in the story? Irritatingly, it really wouldn't have taken that much work to make a decent haunted-house-horror movie of this shambles - the acting, sets, lighting, photography etc. are all perfectly competent. And although the film is never authentically scary, there are plenty of well handled BOO!-made-you-jump moments.
But the film is bursting with inconsistencies. By far, the most grievous and unresolved is the function of the ghosts themselves - what is their motivation, dear? Are they Goody Ghosts on a mission to protect the innocent family from The Killer in their midst? Perhaps - but why then keep attacking the nice family with brutal, spooky violence? They're an ugly bunch, so perhaps they are Really Evil Baddie Ghosts, intent on mindless mayhem. So how come they stop "haunting" as soon as they have exacted their revenge on the perpetrator of their own murders? And why would they be EVIL anyway? I mean, they seemed like perfectly nice (if a bit screamy) people when they were alive. And we never did find out who that little monkey ghost thing is which scuttles around the ceiling. The spirit of dodgy CGI perhaps. I could easily (easily) go on.
One (of many) lingering mysteries this movie leaves in its' wake is "who are the "The Messengers"?" Are they perhaps those squawky Hitchcockian crows, who flap about the film delivering no clear message of any sort? Or are "The Messengers" those confusingly nasty ghosts? Come to that, what exactly is The Message?
Anyway, my message to you - discerning, intelligent connoisseur of horror movies that you are - should be clear enough; don't waste your time on mediocrity, it'll only make you grumpy.