I have to start out by saying for the horror movie, you have to look long and far to find the horror. There was nothing scary about this movie at all. Sure it had some great moments and built up a good atmosphere, but it never unfolded into something truly scary.
The story is about three Naibert youngsters who inherit an old estate from their recently deceased grandmother. Instructed, as per her will and testament, the three heirs must spend a weekend at the estate without adult supervision. But they invite some friends over to spend the weekend. But there is a terrible secret to the estate, and everything is not well at the estate.
As for the story, well it was actually entertaining enough, but again, it failed to really spook or scare. There were some great moments here and there, and the effects were actually quite good. There is even a small amount of blood and gore in the movie, just to make it more interesting. The mirror effects were quite good.
Personally I think that the director just brushed too lightly over Billy Naibert (played by Layton Matthews). Who was Billy really? And what drove him? We weren't given much information about him, where he came from, why he was there, or even what was really wrong with him. Too bad that the director didn't bother to take the effort to make Billy a bigger part of the story. It was as if he was just some filler to add something to make the story a bit more bizarre.
To star in his movie, they had Crystal Day (playing Elizabeth Naibert), Sam Upton (playing Ray Naibert) and Brian Gleason (playing Jack Naibert), and they all did good jobs with their roles. However, it was Lilyan Chauvin (playing Rebecca Naibert, the grandmother) who carried the movie with her somewhat disturbing visage and her portrayal of the malignant entity.
The movie was nicely shot, and there was a lot of nice details to the house, to keep up a dark, brooding atmosphere. So that really worked well in favor of the movie. "The Passing" is not a visual horror movie that assaults your senses and shocks you, it is more of a subliminal and psychological horror movie.
If you are looking for a great horror movie to spook you and keep you on the edge of the seat, then "The Passing" is hardly the right choice. However, if you like horror movies that have a really great atmosphere, then "The Passing" might just be something for you.
