For those who haven't seen it but know the twist, PLEASE don't assume the movie is one huge buildup to it, because it's not. The movie is actually a very effective character piece with small moments of surprise. You'll walk away from this movie knowing every character, and for a horror movie, that's extremely rare.

That's true. I do recall in the script a lot of character development

Unfortunately, after getting excited by the tagline 'YOU'LL NEVER GUESS HER SECRET', I did exactly that a bit before it was a revealed, so I wasn't as surprised as I'd hoped I'd be (I LOVE a twist ending lol). I don't know how I did it though, I'm AWFUL at guessing twists, I never get them right, and this one was not only hugely original but deftly foreshadowed in a very subtle way. It doesn't come out of nowhere at all so you don't feel cheated, and yet it doesn't make it obvious. I really don't know how I guessed...

Nonetheless, it was still a good horror film, really well acted and directed with quite a bit of suspense. The UV paint thing was genius, loved it. Surprisingly good on all accounts. And the twist is really good in my opinion, of course it would never happen in real life but how many jaw-dropping twists WOULD?! I don't think that's the point. In the context of the story, it works a treat and it's just so creepy and wrong I don't get the uproar about it. Yes it's outlandish, but it certainly isn't some tacked on surprise ending. Once you know, you realise it was there in almost every scene. The fact that they didn't have to resort to the old montage of flashbacks trick to make it the audience understand is a pretty good sign the ending was an organic product of a well plotted story and not some trick or gimmick. And yeah, it's not all just a build up to the reveal, even if you hate the ending there's still a lot to enjoy in this one. I loved the wife and husband, their relationship felt very real, they're not some cheesy lovey dovey 'only in the movies' cliche of a couple (see something like WHITE NOISE before the wife dies, it's very guilty of that one!). Good characters in this one, which I really wasn't expecting.

Sham, I agree with your second comment wholeheartedly.

This film sits nicely with a number of recent horrors/whatever you want to term them, ('The Strangers', 'The Uninvited', 'All The Boys Love Mandy Lane', 'P2', 'REC', 'Eden Lake', 'Wolf Creek', just off the top of my head) where nothing necessarily unique is achieved, but the quality is high, very high, IMO.

So often we see lavish praise for directors, writers and actors, but the casting in this movie was incredibly on the mark, big plaudits to those responsible. Fuhrman was sensational. She was 11 when this was filmed, I hear, and she has a huge future. Young Max was jaw-dropping cute, and was reminiscent of Drew Barrymore. Without these two girls, I am not sure this would have worked like it did.

The story was at times highly implausible, but as long as it stays within the parameters of horror believable - and the audience must channel that before renouncing a horror - then, y'know, great. Too plausible is boring in this genre.

The writers had a fair stab at explaining away the mother's seemingly irrational behaviour - the alcoholism, psych's assessment  - and while not entirely successful, they didn't really veer into the 'we've seen it all before territory'. The kids keeping a secret felt real - this, unfortunately, happens when they're exposed to highly abnormal behaviour as documented time and again.

Esther's overt sexuality was disturbing, and it's my hunch that this was a shock tactic that was reined in by an ending later dropped in to facilitate said behaviour legitimately on the screen. The whole 'twist' didn't really add another dimension to the film, and it lacked the raw power of 'Bully' for example - granted, different story, age, but an example of how to graze that topic, IMO.

So, while this film was not perfect, it was entertaining enough, a showcase for what will surely become a very talented actress, and an encouraging direction/pointer for the horror genre going forward.

Andrew

Saw this finally the other day.  Boy was I ever surprised!  It was really, really good!

Production values were fantastic.  Acting all across the board was phenomenal.  Violence, as many have already said, is quite high and well done.

Everything just had a very realistic feel and look to it.

The "twist" actually came off as very well done, and shocking. I knew the twist going in and thought it would be just downright stupid, but it didn't play out that way at all.  The final scenes with her and the Dad were quite shocking, and again, well done.

I read that the budget was around $50 Million, which is both shocking and apparent.  Wish we could get more "big budget" horror flicks like this that actually deliver.

I was very, very impressed in every way with this movie and I'm literally shocked to be saying that.

Great flick!

God, I hated this movie.  Just an over-manipulative pile of shite.  Every horror cliche that's ever existed is crammed into this one.  It's nothing but a blatant Omen rip-off and it also "borrows" scares from like a half dozen other movies.  

Uhh...was anyone actually surprised when it turned out Esther wasn't dead in the greenhouse?  Didn't think so.  Despite the best efforts of the dramatic soundtrack.

That final scene goes down in my book as maybe the worst of all time.  The little deaf girl firing the gun into the ice?   Uh-huh.  And that tag line before the Mom kicks Esther...I'm sure that had 'em howlin' in the theaters.

I did like one thing...Peter Saarsgaard getting killed.  We hate his character so bad by that time, it was a pleasure watching him get the Norman Bates treatment.  That almost made the movie worth it.

Think i'll mail this back to netflix with a "burn this" note attached.