LogFAQs > #978832037

Skeletons in the Closet: Man... I really wanted to like this film, I really did. If you were ever wondering what Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard have been up to, well, it's this movie. I feel bad for them really, because the shortcomings of this movie aren't their fault. The acting, for the most part at least, is fine. Some of the supporting cast isn't great; the child actor isn't very good, honestly. But the real problem with this movie is the script; the disjointed nature of this movie leaves a lot to be desired. They create subplots that just go nowhere and are resolved in 5 seconds or so with a phone call, when you think they'll have some bearing on the climax of the film. This film also has a trope which I despise, which is kinda a spoiler if you were ever thinking of checking this one out: The scary ghost is your friendly relative trying to talk to you. I hate this because half the film the specter spends all its time scaring the shit out of the protagonist, screaming and wailing and lurking about menacingly. Then once it's revealed it's her mother, she just is all angelic like. WTF guys seriously stop doing this shit. Also there are a lot of bad, bad effects used. Especially the fire effects. If you can't afford to do a stunt with real fire or have a great CGI department, then just don't have fire. Really, really let down by this movie. It starts out making you hope it'll be something good, because it has a decent setup and they've got well known actors in some roles. Then it just all goes to shit.

Out of Darkness: A good chance of pace from the last film. It doesn't really break new ground or anything, but the setting is gorgeous and there's plenty of tension to be had especially in the first half of the movie. If you haven't seen the trailer for this, essentially it bills itself as "stone age horror". They speak what AMC billed as "artificial languages", so I'm assuming it's a custom language created for this movie. There are of course subtitles in English. It's a small cast of characters so you won't get overwhelmed with a lot of fluff getting in the way, and it's acted fairly well. But I think the setting is what sets this movie apart; apparently it was shot in the Scottish highlands and there's this untamed wilderness feeling that captures so very well. There's a twist near the end, which can probably either turn you off from the film or make you appreciate it more. For me, I lean to the latter because it offers a message that's relevant today. It's not a groundbreaking message or anything like that, but after watching what I considered to be a mess of a movie, something that was tightly written and wrapped up felt so nice.