2012 horror movie
Rating: 12/20
Plot: A former wizard travels to the middle of nowhere to look at a creepy house and makes a new friend.
Daniel Radcliffe wears an expression on his face for the duration of this movie that makes it seem like he's surprised to be in a movie with this many horror cliches. Loud noises accompany jump scares, characters move to reveal things lurking in backgrounds, auxiliary characters freak out over the arrival of a newcomer, the protagonist makes more than a few questionable decisions, etc. It's not a surprise that this is a Hammer Films production because it's pretty old school.
I'm not sure if there was a mystery here, but if there was, I figured things out well in advance. I'm guessing things were supposed to be as straightforward as they seemed.
If you're just looking for some scares, this will likely suffice. Where it doesn't succeed in creating characters you care about or telling a good story, it makes up for it in making you piss in your pants. There's one great lengthy sequence where they just make poor Harry Potter wander around the sufficiently creepy house and have scary things happening. When this movie isn't interested in advancing any plot, it succeeds well enough.
The ending is really silly, but it should appease any Christians upset by any of this witch stuff.
2 comments:
I remember being so frustrated after watching this thing because of the obviousness of it all. It was riddled with cliches and overdone elements. Unfortunately for Radcliffe, he hasn't grown up enough to be considered a man yet, let alone a leading man that has to have people connect with his character. I mean, this is coming from the poster child of what a man-child looks like, so I get to say that. Radcliffe's costar just towered over him.
You're right about the creepiness and moodiness of the film, but I just kept waiting for more depth or an "a-ha" moment.
The ending is stupid. Trying to salvage a crappy story with a make-shift happy ending. How did you give this a 12? It's an 8 or 9.
You're probably right.
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