Viewed – 27 February 2012 Blu-ray

Supernatural ghost stories are ten a penny these days in the wake of the Paranormal Activity films, and for the most part I have let them pass me by, mainly because they freak me the hell out.  However after being recommended this by a friend, I thought I’d give it a go.

After stumbling upon an antique box at a yard sale, a young girl grows increasingly protective of it much to the concern of her doting father.  So sets forth a story about a typical all American family, albeit a broken one as whose lives are turned upside down by their daughter’s gradually disturbing and violent behaviour.  This is an entertaining movie, with some solid performances, especially from Natasha Calis as the young girl, and with competently staged scares and imaginative ideas (fingers protruding from inside ones throat?  Shudder) and the backing of a true story (or as true as these things get) – this was reasonably effective stuff.

The over-familiarity of the plot lets this down however (see: Poltergeist, The Exorcist etc etc) and it failed to get under my skin in a way movies like Insidious were able to, and the hit and miss CGI didn’t help matters.  As someone who is actually easily scared by such subjects, I was surprised to find myself caught up in the performances and characters rather than the scares … a good or bad thing, depending on your taste.

Verdict:  3 /5

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• Make Some Noise: The Poltergeist Phenomenon (thespiritseekers.wordpress.com)
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