![]() I mean, these people are supposed to be going to a school reunion, but there is only seven people and two of them look too old to have been in the same class with the others. The tooth fairy is just playing dress up. I don't know why or when this became the standard lighting scheme for hollywood, but I wish they'd quit it. The rest of the room is in almost total darkness. That is to say that you have three lamps in a room and all three somehow only seem able to light a three foot circle around each bulb. Of course, the scenes were it with modern day hollywood bulbs. Nobody walks THAT loudly in real life! Especially not in the woods! Then you have the lighting. ![]() and sound effects? Good grief! When someone is walking, I think they literally used the old sound effects trick from back in the days of radio shows - clopping shoes on a surface right in front of the microphone. It sounded like the vocal track was recorded in open air without any kind of noise dampeners (think built-in microphones on handheld audio recorders) and then cut apart to attempt to reduce the amount of noise present throughout. ![]() This was most noticeable when there was a pause in between sentences. You heard the sound effects - birds chirping and what-have-you - but as soon as someone would talk, you could hear pink noise in the background. While these aren't that detrimental as most won’t notice or even care about these issues in the slightest, they do need to be mentioned as it could be a problem for some who have issues with their aspect in their films.This was so bad it was painfully annoying! As bad as it is in every aspect - acting, script, lighting, camera work - the worst part was the audio! During silent portions, the silence was, well. The constant mentions of a character calling someone who looks much younger her mother borders on the comical, and the mask used for the villain looks flimsy and about to fall apart at the slightest touch despite the creepy design. The obvious sets and recycled buildings from previous films set at the exact same place come off as a cheat due to being so familiar, much like the repeated cast and crew in much the same roles they’ve done on those other films. The other minor issue is the low-budget limitations that pop up at points. These could’ve played to the same scene just with an extra bit of urgency which would’ve cut down on the running time slightly. Learning about the mother’s desire to reveal the truth about the curse on the family, her complete unwillingness to accept her mother’s attempts to apologize for the past or the burgeoning romance with her ex who still lives there, serve the film well to create plenty of depth and intriguing characters but also ends up leaving the main character to such a small portion of the film because there are dragged out at such a slow tempo. A major cause of that is the initial introduction of the family at the farm where several storylines come into focus which is incredibly worthwhile to bring about more of a connection to them but is done in a slow, lifeless manner. The main issue on display is the dreadful and utterly snail-like pacing that robs the film of a lot of the momentum it’s trying to build. Along with a creepy lead villain and quite impressive gore for an indie effort, this one was really fun at times. With the being having abducted the family and taken them to the furnace in the barn for a fine confrontation, this has some nice action and plenty of cheese. So are the attack scenes out away from the farm as the chilling and creepy sequences in the bedroom of their friends’ daughter or the stellar sequence in the trailer which has a lot to like about it as it leads into the finale at the barn. ![]() The opening chase through the barn from a shapeshifting figure before being burned alive with a victim is a solid start to this, while the resurrection and attack on the homeless man living on the farm is a genuinely brutal encounter. When this one works is due to the main creature getting loose which is rather fun at times. This one was a watchable if still somewhat underwhelming effort.
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