Annie returns to her home town in California following the death of her mother. She can’t convince her sister to return to their childhood home as the sister has a lot of bad memories of the place. Annie seems in denial somewhat and has a troubling night when unseen forces watch her having a pee before chucking her about the place.
Annie manages to escape with her young niece but learns that her sister is now missing and she’s the only suspect. Rico is a nice policeman who hands out ice cream to suspects and enjoys listening to their wild and fantastical theories of what’s going on.
The pair return to the family home and discover a boarded up room complete with a rickety bed and enough peepholes to make Norman Bates blush. With the cops no use Annie starts her own investigation and finds a woman waving at her from Google Maps. She also visits a bunch of stoners in a scene so annoying with industrial clanging that I had to fast forward it. I think they were trying for a ‘Silent Hill’ type unsettling vibe but it was just plain headache inducing.
Believing there to be a supernatural explanation for her troubles Anne drafts in Stevie, a pale, scary looking psychic, who yells Judas before freaking out - must be a Dylan fan. After some more internet wizardry Annie earns about the Judas Killer, a serial killer from her neighbourhood who remains at large.
Rico does some investigating of his own and soon wishes he hadn’t. But fear not! we have a Ouija board and some ghostly special effects that may save the day.
I didn’t like this film at all. From it’s washed out palette to its uninspiring lead. The clues were all over the shop and the obvious explanation was the one they went with. There were too many jump scares and no real horror. Some of the effects were somewhat unsettling but I’ve seen better elsewhere, even in video games.
The plot, about repressed memories and childhood abuse, was never going to float my boat but it could have made an effort beyond the standard haunted house tropes. The film was made for a shoestring $400k and it does show with a lot of talk and very little show.
Rico was miscast as the nice policeman and his comeuppance was a small mercy at least. His reappearance in Ouija was a chuckle and I wondered if his pay had ran out and he phoned this bit in. The revelations were decently handled although the helpful ghost took a bit of acceptance. The baddy reveal was a bit of a letdown, but sometimes the real horrors aren’t ethereal, they are bald guys with their shirts off. The climax was reasonably good with it let down somewhat with the eye at the peep hole at the end - oh no! It’s starting all over again.
Over all I wasn’t scared or affected or even interested throughout. Make a pact with yourself and give it a miss.
THE Tag Line : Pact Full of Nothing 32%
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