codygdietrich

If you're a fan of horror movies I'm sure your familiar with the scene where someone is in bed and roll over and there is someone standing next to their bed, or someone is in a bathtub dip their head under water and see someone over there who is not there, or is looking at something look up into a mirror and see someone who again is not there in the mirror behind them, or a person has a nightmare about them being attacked and you only find out it's a dream later. That is how this movie plays out it a series of mostly cliche jump scares that any experienced horror fan sees coming from the first glance at how the scene is set up.

I watched this movies expecting a creepy mystery thriller similar in style to The Ring, Rose Red, Candyman (the original), where you get hints to build a bigger story. This fails its cliche jump scares with 4 characters that have very little depth or emotional range. I was over this movie before it was even halfway through but then there was a scene with one line and I thought "they just gave away the ending." The end of the movie comes and they replay the scene with that very line in it just incase anyway missed it.

Near the very beginning of this documentary they state that Jim Thorpe was this great athlete, but most people have never heard the name Jim Thorpe. I guess the about 4,500 people living in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania do not count for anything. It is a two hour documentary and never once did they mention there is a town named after him with a museum that is in part dedicated to him. The entire documentary tries to paint Jim Thorpe as this great athlete that was never respected or recognized for his athletic ability. They compare him to various athletes including Big Lou who I've never heard of and Michael Jackson who had a shoe brand, but I do not know of any other athlete that has a town named after them. Times change as they point out with the changing of Olympic rules, but seem to ignore changing times and things like television and the internet when comparing Jim Thorpe to other top celebrities. They seem to selectively pick the facts the present and it left me feeling as if a lot was left out.

I am a big fan of M Knight Shyamalan, he is a big part of why I become a horror movie fan, but this movie gives me a been there done that feeling. Some aspects are the same as Cabin in the Woods: cabin + potential apocalypse = sacrifice required to prevent it. Then you get the you have a choice to make kill one to save many, this idea of having to make a choice where neither option is good is common in horror movies, the Saw series they can save themselves by hurting themselves, there are others that are more police framed. It is the age old make a deal with the devil type movie. I the end it is not scary movie but it also lacks that creepy tension that slowly builds as more is revealed that most Shyamalan movies have. The movie is about a family that must choice one of their own to sacrifice to prevent the apocalypse because four people broke into their cabin, there really isn't much more to the movie.