Better than ‘The Devil’s Scissors’ but not as good as ‘The Devil’s Paper’.
But seriously, this movie deserves more than a snide little comment. It starts off as a second-rate war film, but even then it’s decent enough to warrant/encourage watching further, especially in the hope/knowledge that the real movie is yet to come. And it is.
With the setup being dispensed with, we are presented with a fairly gory supernatural-ish horror film. Not a “gore-fest” because the acting, script, and intelligence level are far too good for that. Not that they’re brilliant or anything, but they’re surprisingly decent. There are some obvious holes in the plot and it’s not as clever as it wants to be, but it held my attention throughout and I can say that I’m actually glad I watched it, beyond being able to write a review on it. I’ll never watch it AGAIN…there’s nothing I feel I may have “missed” the first time in terms of depth…but as recent unrated Netflix streaming horror movies go, this is a good one-time view.
Also, if you liked ‘Hellboy’, you’ll enjoy seeing a good rip of its opening.
Grade: C+
6/21/13: I did watch it again. Turns out there was nothing I missed the first time, but I actually enjoyed watching it a second time. I’m PRETTY sure I won’t watch it a third time though…I don’t have that “There’s-Something-About-‘Lo'” feeling. Grade: B-