As far as modern horror goes, this is an excellent film. Mostly because it is thoroughly anachronistic in convention and intention. So obviously an homage to late 70's/early 80's horror, the film succeeds wildly at elements to good horror craft that are sorely lacking in modern horror: namely, characterization, story (kinda) and atmosphere. You know, those silly things.
The opening title sequence is so over-the-top "low-budget" that it's actually totally distracting and a generates a mild bias against the movie, at least initially. It's too overt and polished to work as anything other than a joke. But i certainly got the joke and so will just about anyone born after, say, 1990. Anyway, the look of the film is otherwise pretty authentic and the subtle (i think it was subtle...can't even remember now) score totally reminds me of those shitty but great horror classics like THE BURNING and THE BEAST WITHIN, just to name two that come to mind first. If you thought i was gonna say FRIDAY THE 13TH you're an idiot, go away.
The female lead -- look her up on imdb.com if you really wanna know who she is...I just know she's too skinny yet still pretty hot -- is really good. She and her best friend (in the story -- I don't know who she hangs with in real life) wear the right clothes and have the right hair styles so somebody's done their homework. I understand the director is in his twenties so obviously he needed to hire someone who was actually born in the 70's or maybe he just studied all the horror "artifacts"...either way works I suppose. I did feel that the Walkman she had was a bit premature for the time. Although the movie never says what year it takes place, it really looks like somewhere around 1981-'82 and the Walkman had only been widely available as of 1983, so it would have been prohibitively expensive for a college student. Sorry, I'm a stickler for continuity.
So anyway, the first hour of the film is almost entirely set-up and it works very effectively. People with short attention spans (ie., anyone born after 1990 again) will probably be bored out of their mind. Fuck them. They can go play video games or share nude pictures of their classmates (I hear that's big these days)...nobody cares what they think or enjoy anyway. There's a good plot surprise about 30 minutes into the story but otherwise it's a slow build to the climax. But once reached, the story moves like a freight train even if it's ultimately a little unsatisfying. Visually, the Satanic elements are quite impressive and even downright scary. I would have a little trouble watching this movie alone at night and if you have a problem with that, go fuck yourself. You're lying if you say you wouldn't get some chills yourself. It's a very satisfying and effective payoff for two-thirds of the ending. The last third is contrived and, um, way too hollywood-ish. A darker ending with more finality would have been far more powerful.
Overall, I highly recommend this flick. Along with THE UNINVITED, it's probably one of the best mainstream horror movies in recent memory. Of course, not much competition out there but, still, this is a very solid horror experience that any true fan of the genre should enjoy.
Rating: 8.5/10
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