Harbottle-64

Thought I'd got this one all pegged out. He/she did it because of such 'n' stuff. Wrong. Have to admit I was glued to my laptop all the way through and was quite prepared to give it a 2/10, because of the "obvious" twist, but how wrong I was. This is actually a well crafted and well acted thriller. The leads do us proud and hats off to the main protagonists. The camera work is very good and the director obviously knows what he's doing. I've seen some really bad reviews on here, but honestly, did they even watch it all the way through? You've all seem some terrible howlers on Amazon Prime, but this isn't one of them. It's not Citizen Kane, but for a Friday night chiller, I recommend it.

I went into this film with a bit of scepticism. However, I have to say I came out really impressed. I'm not one who reviews a lot of movies, but I thought I'd like to add my thoughts to this one, as it was likely to get washed away with average reviews.

First of all, I have to agree with some previous reviewers and say the acting is not great. Apart from Belle and her mother, the other actors are a bit "clunky", but this is a minor quibble.

Overall, this is a superb piece of drama on a small budget. Don't expect big jump scares. It slowly builds the terror and the viewer is left thinking "What the Hell is going on?" A small clue happens along the way, in a blink and you've missed it way. I will say no more. Suffice it to say, you know it's going to be a paranormal drama. Now, how does it pan out?

The dread builds slowly, though from the start, you know things aren't going to end well. A mix of Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project and Lake Mungo, it works well. A superb horror flick. I loved it and will definitely watch again, having had a feeling I might have missed some clues along the way.

5 stars for getting me right through the film until the end, but what on earth were Brian Cox and Greg Kinnear doing in this movie? I'm not going to add spoilers on this review, but if you didn't work it out pdq, then you need to watch the film again. Inside, there's a good film trying to get out, but it just didn't add up to the sum of its parts. Well acted, especially by the underrated Nick Robinson, but it really didn't come together. I can see the book being far more subtle and leaving more of a shock to the twist at the end. As for reviewers giving it high marks for being a tome about "love and loss", I didn't really get it. Perhaps it's just me, but the ending was pretty obvious. Shame.