Directed By: Simon West
Written By: Jake Wade Wall
Starring: Camilla Belle, Clark Gregg, Tommy Flanagan
We all know the story. It’s one of the most popular urban legends of all time and was a successful 1979 horror camp classic. It’s a story that’s been told and retold over and over again through generations. It’s been known to scare high school girls and Boy Scout troops alike. The story itself has seemingly grown beyond it’s urban legend beginnings with thousands of variations, each story a little different depending on who tells it.
And now, Simon West is taking a shot at it. The plot is simple enough. The babysitter, Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) has been grounded and barred from attending the school bonfire by her dad (Clark Gregg) for going over her cellphone minutes. As punishment, she must repay the money, forcing her to take a baby-sitting job for a wealthy doctor (Derek de Lint) and his wife (Kate Jennings Grant). The remote mountain house is a testament to everything that’s spooky about modern living; lights that turn on as you enter the room, an large aviary full of birds and enough doors to hide a small army. Jill uneasiness only grows as she starts to get calls from an anonymous Stranger.
At the core, this is a horror movie, designed to elicit jumps and screams, slowly building the tension and releasing it, building and releasing, continually putting the protagonist in awkward situations. And for the most part, the movie accomplishes its goal. Jill constantly finds herself scared and worried; looking in every dark corner, opening every door and successfully driving herself insane with thoughts of the worst.
The problem with the movie derives from the basic fact that anyone over the age of 12 knows the crux of the story - the Stranger is inside the house making the calls. Most aspects of the film achieve their primary goal. Camilla Belles performance is engaging enough that eventually we begin to feel her uneasiness. She’s not all the way there yet, but it’s not far for her. West’s directing is strong, balancing delicately the need for a steady-cam and a hand-held look. Some of his cuts and fades are a bit disconcerting and the constant close-ups of Jill need work, but overall it’s a good style for the genre. The cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr. is superb, his knowledge knowing when to light and when to keep a scene dark is admirable. If there’s an aspect of this film to praise the most, Menzies Jr’s work is it. Consequently, most of the technical elements fit together well.
It’s the plot that drags this movie down. Wall has written a good script, but he was handcuffed from the beginning. In the modern world, we’re never out of touch from anyone for more than a few minutes. Jill, about halfway through, calls 911 to tell them what’s been happening, saying that she’s been getting mysterious phone calls. The Officer on the other end of the line tells her that they can be there in 20 minutes if need be, if these calls persist or if she is threatened. This is where writer Wall is trapped. By the time Jill and the Stranger begin the climax, we’ve been prepared for anything. Wall has used up his creativity in trying to scare us for the previous hour that he gives himself nowhere else to go. Thus, the climax is short, un-engaging and completely unsatisfying.
Nothing that happens once the Stranger first “appears” works in the context of what we’ve been watching. He has stalked Jill the entire movie without being seen, avoided the lights that turn on automatically and killed two people quietly and discreetly. Yet, once he has been seen, he ceases to be the scary figure. At that point he’s a known quantity. Every second that we see him, we know Jill is safe. The effective part of the movie happened when he was out of sight, playing his ruthless game without being seen.
And we are forced to give a solid round of applause to all the elements of the movie that rise above this basic, fatal flaw. As a straight horror movie much is accomplished and much is left to be desired. The urban legend, in almost all tellings, has the two children dying. It’s a risk that West and Wall take in leaving them alive, effectively cutting out all of the blood and gore found in the original story. It works well and West manages to keep the movie consistently free of anything that would induce an “R” rating.
Props to what works and props to what doesn’t. The creativity of the original urban legend is left intact and we are given an hour of an intense thriller that finds new ways to make the old scares work - for the most part.
- A. Chlebowski is a graduate of Marquette University and holds a Bachelor's in Theatrical Production and an Associates in English and History. He's lived and worked in Milwaukee (WI), Chicago (IL), Burlington (VT), Los Angeles (CA) and now resides in St. Louis (MO), where he was born. He likes reading, writing and drinking. Go Cardinals!!!