Struggling to find work after college, a woman agrees to take a position at a hotel managed by a friend of a friend while the area is being protected from a deadly plague, and as she works there she becomes convinced a curse involving a figure living in a specific room and must keep herself safe as a result.
There was quite a lot to like with this one. Among its better qualities is how the film keeps the central mystery of the room hidden for the most part throughout here. The way everyone keeps their distance regarding the cursed room in the hotel, from ensuring her daughter doesn't enter it accidentally to the quiet uttering of the curse placed on it by the witch from local legend and the strange incidents that take place in the hotel around the room while she's working there manage to build a solid and engrossing mystery about the area. Likewise, once it turns that build-up into unleashing the supernatural there's quite a lot to like here. With the slow-burn build starting with the employee getting sick exactly like she described in the legend involving the witch to the continuous noises and objects disappearing and moving around on her, there's an eerie tone working throughout here that is quite effective. Rather than going full bore with needless jump-scares of ghosts crawling all over the hotel, the fact that this one goes for the subtle route of obviously featuring a secret harbored by the crew but are unable to reveal it, which is a fine and far more enjoyable substitute with the atmospheric approach instead. The other enjoyable aspect here is the fun finale where it takes the build-up and offers some solid payoffs. The attack on the poisoned worker in her room is a chilling start, as are the later encounters down in the laundry room and the maid's confrontation with the possessed figure crawling through the main lobby which generates the best hints that something's wrong. As this spills into the other hotel members having their confrontations with the vengeful being, there's quite a lot to like here with the action picking up nicely and generating some thrilling scenes as the race to quell her fury results in some fun encounters as well with the rituals required to calm here alongside the fine action taking place in the hotel and the witches' realm. These here are what works overall as this one does have some slight problems. The main issue for some here will be the idea that the subtle, slow-burn buildup throughout the first hour will cause this one to be drawn-out far longer than necessary. Instead of taking the direct route of the occupant of the room and how it all ties together with the legend, the mysterious nature of it all means this one takes its time to build these events which can take its toll on some viewers. The other flaw here is some rather wonky and obvious effects-work that weakens some of the scenes they're in, from CGI flames to unnatural body distortions and other visual flares that are supposedly done for effect but look cheap as a result. With a finale that goes on a little too long but otherwise, there isn't a whole lot wrong with this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language and children-in-jeopardy.
