Birgitte S.C.´s opinion:
This is supposed to be a horror movie, at least that´s what the makers want us to believe. Usually horror movies aren´t scary at all. Especially when the movie is serious, it becomes funny.
This movie is such a movie. You can clearly see that the makers intend to scare the crap out of you, but it just doesn´t work. Personally I watch it with friends and start joking (sponsored by Oil of you-know-which and a famous lipstick brand, playback show part I, playback show part II, Sigourney´s genuine old face and hair colour at the end...). That way it is highly entertaining and it isn´t so obvious that you´re watching crap.
Where did it go wrong? It´s surely not the fault of the actors, they are all doing fine. Except Monica Keena, but that´s because she grunts istead of a loud scream. It would´ve been a lot better if they did a voice-over with Neve Campbell or Courtney Cox.
The director isn´t to blame either. Visually the movie is a feast for the eye (Look at the scene with the trees falling down!).
No, it´s the story. There are many good things brought up and then quickly killed off. For example: why don´t they show Claudia´s zombie baby? Now we´re just joking that they borrowed E.T. (identified by the fingers), which just made it all more hilarious than it already was.
They could have done more with the mirror, e.g. to show how poor Nannau died. We´re still wondering what caused her death. Was it a stroke? And what the hell did she see anyway?! OK, so the mirror is possessed by Claudia´s mommy, who reminds us of our mother-in-law. How did she get in there? Why is mommy angry? How comes Claudia so bitter (probably went to psycho school or something)?
And then the ending. First you think: Cool! A bitch fight! But soon you see the most uninspired anticlimax in movie history. The whiny, stupid, grunting Lilly we should feel sympathy for had won! Let´s not start how, that would really piss me off! I felt so cheated...
When you watch the movie questions arise but are not answered, which is too bad. I think if the story would have been more focused and would have had more depth, it had been a great movie. A missed opportunity.
