There's Something Wrong with the Children

Movie is a standard low budget horror film. Concept is pretty straight forward, kids come back from the woods yada yada yada.

I don't really know what to say about it. I'll forget this movie in an hour or two. I mean I did finish it and it was somewhat interesting overall. The acting and dynamics between the adult characters is well done. The kids also performed well given the material.

I guess I would say if you're looking to online shop or you want to zonk out on the couch and watch something that's not too complicated but somewhat entertaining than this would fit the bill. Not much more to say. 5/10.

If this movie was free or on Lifetime, I'd probably give a better rating. The acting is so bad that it's hard to disregard. There are creepy aspects of the film and it does a decent job of building suspense I guess, but overall falls short in what you'd expect based on the trailer.

It takes a little over 35-45 minutes for horror fans to see anything substantial which makes it difficult to stay interested. I completely appreciate and enjoy a slow burn but with the horrible acting and lack of major thrills as mentioned, it almost doesn't seem worth it to stick though the movie.

This is definitely one to pass.

The premise of the story is good - not 100% original, but done in its own style with some interesting plot lines.

Viewers are asked to ponder whether there's really something sinister going on, or if the main adult character is suffering with mental health issues. This allows for a few nice twists and turns.

The acting is hit and miss, and it isn't helped by some cringeworthy dialogue. There are some jarring moments that will give some viewers secondhand embarrassment. But if you can overlook these, there's an interesting film that is quite well paced.

The music is different. It's either silent or very loud. I rather enjoyed it but understand why some find it distracting.

This movie (like so many others) had so much potential. The first half of the movie is excellent. It introduces us to our characters and develops them really well.

The premise - although not original - creates some fantastic suspense. The main character Ben knows something is up or rather WRONG with the kids, but nobody else can see it. That was so well done and allowed for some really inventive suspenseful moments.

Then the writers went and threw it all away with rushing into a third act full of the usual horror tropes. The ending was a huge let down.

Imagine if in The Shining we didn't see much of the build up of Jack beginning to lose his sanity, and instead it rushed straight to him trying to kill his family with an axe. That's kind of like what this film does, which is a shame.

I gave this film a 6/10 because I enjoyed the first half a lot. But with better writing and allowing the suspense to continue, this could have been so much better.

I wouldn't call this a bad movie overall. The acting, direction and cinematography are all fine, but I just found the film painful to watch.

The biggest issue for me is that the protagonists just make the wrong - and often stupid - choices at every possible opportunity. Even when the plot suggests a character has done the right thing, common sense dictates that they could have made a smarter choice.

This is especially obvious in the later half if the movie, when even characters who seem to have figured out what is happening do things that make no sense to anyone who isn't following a script.

I just found the entire movie to be a frustrating, shout-at-the-screen experience that ruined the potential enjoyment of some of the ideas the film had to play with.

Ultimately, I want a horror film to make me feel tense and anxious, not angry and frustrated.