An average movie

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, especially from my favorite Listal members (jaytoast’s rating : 4 stars, Xanadon’t’s rating : 4 stars, the giraffe’s rating : 5 stars), I was really eager to check it out. Unfortunately, even though it was indeed a decent feature, I didn't manage to see what was so amazing about it and, in my opinion, it was just another overrated horror flick directed by James Wan just like ‘Saw’. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I thought it was a solid haunted house feature but they didn’t play enough with the rules of the genre and I thought that the whole thing was barely scary. Still, there were some nice elements. For example, I liked how, at least in the beginning, there was no background music at all. It was unexpected and a really refreshing approach and it’s too bad they didn’t keep this until the end. Furthermore, I thought that Rose Byrne was not really convincing. I mean, she was a little bit too young (31 years old) to portray a mother with already 3 kids but I have to admit that she did look really weary and exhausted which did fit the character very well. Furthermore, the last act was actually pretty good with some creepy moments. Still, there were enough misfires. For example, the way they decided to move houses was barely convincing. I mean, of course, one of the oldest clichés in this genre is that the main characters will refuse to move from the haunted house for no convincing reasons. However, here, they decide to move just like that, as if they just changed their pants. In my opinion, to move from one house to another is a huge hassle and, in this case, it didn’t change anything so it felt really pointless. Furthermore, the whole ghostbuster thing was also really bewildering. Indeed, the whole thing became somehow and really suddenly a comedy but it didn’t mix well with the rest of the movie. Eventually, the main issue I had is that the whole thing was fairly cliché and therefore a little tedious, at least to me. Still, it remains a well made flick and I have to admit that I was entertained throughout the whole thing. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent horror flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10