Krishna
Interesting premise. Even for someone who has seen a lot of horror movies and so are very used to the formula used, this strikes as something new, which I guess is a very nice bonus.
The movie opens with an assistant in a mannequin factory – great, ideal setting for all those plastic wrapped mannequins standing out in semi darkness – notices a presence in the darker corners of the room. She sees that the presence seems to ‘disappear’ when she switches the light on and comes back when it is off. She gets scared, tells the owner, Paul, that there is something weird.
Paul is not the main character of the movie because, going investigating, he gets killed. The story is about his family, especially his children – Martin, a young boy and his grown up sister, Rebecca. Their mother, Sophie, also figures in the movie.
It is the little touches that are well done. Martin notes his mother acting strangely. She acts as if there is a person in the house. And talks of ‘we’ as if she and another are living together. When you learn that she has psychological problems, we tend to discount it as hallucinations. A casual, ‘Did we wake you?’ when he hears his mother in the middle of the night talking to someone in her dark bedroom and a creepy hand when he turns back to look at his mom looking at him through a semi closed door… All add that element of mystery mixed with terror. Works well.
Now, you say ‘a demon or presence that shuns light? What kind of thing is that?’ There is a good explanation (I did not say logical explanation, just a good one) for that in the movie. And the fact that light is the enemy of the demon is well used, especially where the boyfriend of Rebecca ‘runs away’. I will not give out details, as it would be a big spoiler.
The other touches are good too. Martin unable to sleep at home due to sheer terror causes him to fall asleep at school and Rebecca is summoned. When Martin says that their mom has been talking to someone called Diana, Rebecca stops, stunned. We understand why later in the movie.
How Sophie realizes that Diana, who she thought was her friend is not, and even more importantly, how she gets rid of Diana are also extremely well told.
The scenes, earlier, where Martin and Sophie try to watch a movie and Sophie tries to introduce Martin to Diana are chilling.
Nice imagination, very good narration and story. If you discount the fundamental premise of malevolent entity which can do anything except be in well-lit spots, the story stands together too.
I definitely had fun watching this one, and so I will say 7/10
- – Krishna