Film Filter: Off- I was perusing Netflix for a good, scary Halloween flick, and most looked a little on the cheesy side. This one, on the other hand, boasted Julianne Moore and an intriguing description, so I went for it.
Pros- I don't dislike Julianne Moore, but I am not her number one fan either. She's just one of those actresses I don't pay a lot of attention to, but I will say she seems to play the estranged mother (The Forgotten, Carrie) very well. This movie was no exception, and I really enjoyed her realistic banter and interactions with her brother and her father throughout the film. She brought a believability to the film that really helped it along.
As evidenced with my love of films like Primal Fear and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, I have the utmost respect for actors who have to portray more than one character in a film- who are usually very opposite each other in personality- and pull it off well. Myers is an actor with which I have more recently noted, and he pulls this off impeccably, never once even speaking with his native Irish accent. I was impressed, though shades of it came out every once in awhile, if you were listening carefully.
One of the things that, retrospectively, I appreciated was the film's pacing. There was a twist that not only wasn't revealed, but wasn't even alluded to until more than halfway through the film. This minor shift not only sped up the timetable of the film's ending, but also changed the audience's perception on a few characters, as well as answer some questions that lacked clarity early on. There is another twist at the end, which is slightly open-ended, but I don't nearly mind it as much as I thought I would, as it was smartly played out.
Cons- Maybe, just maybe, Moore might have better relationships with her on-screen offspring if she stuck around to raise them? I can't really think of any moment where she and her daughter were on screen together where she wasn't picking her up from her brother's, or dropping her off with her father. This is all to study a case given to her by her father (who the film has us believe is a colleague, but not her boss) that she didn't want to take in the first place. Le sigh.
Despite the fact that this film is definitely dubbed more as a thriller than a horror flick, I think they could have done a little more to insert some aspects of good horror movies into it. Pop-up moments were pretty few and far between, and were also highly predictable. The little amount of gore in the film was also pretty clearly televised beforehand. Chase scenes were a little anti-climactic and...you guessed it...predictable. The movie wasn't bad because of this, don't get me wrong, but I think it definitely could have been enhanced with the use of it. The scariest parts for me was when I was on the edge of my seat and my friend's dog barked because trick-or-treaters were at the house. No bueno.
Wrap up- I was pleasantly surprised by this Netflix gem on Halloween, and I encourage any possession/multiple personality aficionados to check it out.
