imajestr

I confess I have never seen the original, but as this is meant to be a modern reimagining, I think it's fair to judge on its own merits. I thought it started rather cheesy, but as it went on, I found the cheese to be part of the charm--it is essentially a modern B horror movie, and it is loads of fun.

Every actor is giving it their all, and there are some huge names here that really nail it. The special effects are slightly dated here and there, but no worse than anything you'd see in a Marvel movie from the same era.

I could absolutely see this becoming a spooky season regular watch for me and my wife, like Sleepy Hollow. If that's your jam, it's definitely worth a watch!

I'll keep this short. The first movie was at least somewhat naturalistic, fairly well acted, took its time with the creep factor, and let the tension build toward the inevitable climax even while working with a nonexistent budget.

This sequel is so much worse on every level. The acting is consistently horrible, the dialog stinted and full of unnecessary exposition (how many times do we need to be told that the hotel is drawing people there because it is evil?), and the scares are cheap and cliche. I have no idea what went wrong here, but even the original actors who show up sound like kids struggling their way through a high school play. Basically, the hotel is now super powered, and we know what is going to happen to everyone who enters. They often meet their fates within minutes of entering, and it is always accompanied by the same lame freeze frames and close ups that are meant to be chilling but come off as heavy handed and tiresome.

Bottom line: if you liked the first movie, do yourself a favor and skip this one. All charm is gone. It. Is. Dog crap.

Let me start off by saying this movie doesn't deserve the hate it has received from audience members. Let me also say that the title and marketing were a massive mistake, and I don't blame audience members for being ticked off. The movie promised by the title and trailers is not the movie presented.

Once you get past these issues, the story itself is quite good. The main characters are believable, and while the premise isn't wholly unique, the film presents a world that is frighteningly realistic occupied by characters worth rooting for. In essence, this is a post apocalyptic film about a plague that has wiped out the civilized world. Our main characters live in a cabin in the woods, getting by. Then another couple with a young child arrives, and things get morally complicated. Who do you trust in that situation? What do you do to protect your family?

We watch the characters struggle with these questions, and the stakes are always as high as can be. There's some ambiguity to the events in the film that make it rewatchable, and the ending is as sad as it is shocking. This one has stayed with me since I saw it in theaters.