Ed's Review Dot Com

Ghost House Pictures, North Box Productions,

Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Grant Show, Madison Davenport, Rob LaBelle, John Cassini, Nana Gbewonyo, Quinn Lord

A young family with two little girls is broken. Mom (Kyra Sedgwick) has a new boyfriend and the two sisters Em (Natasha Calis) and her older sister Hannah (Madison Davenport) are going through the normal problems children of divorce go through. But Dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has a new house, and a quick stop at a garage sale, and Em finds a strange wooden box. She buys it and brings it home. But then strange things start to happen which appear related to the box, and poor Em who is losing her soul.

This is a movie that’s been made again and again. That in itself should chase people away. But the good thing is that it’s really artfully done. First of all, the characters are really well cast and acted. Natasha Calis is definitely the best actor in this film. As Em, she has to go from a sweet and innocent little girl who is sad at the breakup of her parents marriage, to a raging demon possessed monster that will remind you of Linda Blair from “The Exorcist” which started this whole genre. She’s excellent. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is also excellent as the harried father trying to hold his family together. I feel sorry for Kyra Sedgwick. I hated that woman, through the whole movie. Think of “The Santa Claus” where the marriage is on the rocks, and Mom has a new suitor. Now ratchet up the bitchiness 1000%. I wanted to slap this woman throughout the entire film. That’s what she’s supposed to do, but like the guy who had Patrick Swayze killed in “Ghost”….I’m going to hold it against him for the rest of his career.

The scares are fierce and frequent in this film. You’ll jump in your seat a number of times. This film is really creepy, and though you’ll be easily able to predict everything that’s about to happen, there is never really a chance to relax in this movie. The movie was originally given an R rating, but some creative editing dropped it to a PG-13, but left the screams in it. I wish they’d just stop it with the “Based on a true story” crap though. This is NOT a true story. It’s based on a completely different unrelated type of event that hatched the idea of using a box as the demon’s house. But somehow it makes it seem more “terrifying” if they tell you it really happened. Baloney.

But if you need another reason to watch this decently made horror flick, consider this. How often do you get so watch a Jewish exorcism? Now that alone is worth the price of admission!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog