Within

There are at least 3 movies entitled "Within." This one does not involve either a haunted house or a villain who hides in a family's crawl space. It features a young girl named Rachel, who can sometimes see malevolent spirits that are invisible to the rest of the world. In the first few minutes of the movie, Rachel's mother is killed by a troubled man who appears to be controlled by one of them. After Rachel and her father relocate, Rachel discovers that an evil spirit may be responsible for a series of tragedies affecting her classmates and the community.

The movie was billed as horror and suspense, but to my disappointment, it was neither. I would call it a dark drama. I still watched the film in its entirety, because I became engaged in Rachel's fate and if/how she conquered the evil spirits. The actresses who play Rachel and mean girl Michelle are quite good for their age. They are certainly more capable than most of the adults, who are largely unknown. Rachel's father visibly shifts from one emotion to the next, Michelle's father the football coach takes "melodramatic" to a new level, and the after-school babysitter appears to be the grandmother of someone the producers owed a favor.

"Within" could have yet been a success if the direction and editing were more crisp. Long, awkward silences and obvious "enter stage left" staging constantly remind the audience they are watching a movie. Poor timing takes the fear out of intended jump scares and instead contributes to a too-slow burn. Gaping plot holes abound, particularly for the teacher's long-missing brother and each of Michelle's sisters. Way too much time is spent in conversation between 9-year-olds, regardless of how realistic it may be.

I would not pay for this movie, but I was fine watching it on Amazon Prime as I paid bills. I think a rating between 4 and 6 is fair. I ultimately chose "6" to help counteract the reviewers who assigned low ratings to the wrong movie.

The first 30 minutes or so are reasonably well done and engaging, but then the plot meanders and makes no sense. There is a supernatural element to the story that kicks off the film, but then has virtually no point later in the movie. Characters -- kids and adults -- make some very stupid moves that further ruins the storyline.

The whole thing is weak. There are a few decent actors in it. (Even one that I recognize From "Catch and Release" with Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith.) The lead/main little girl and the Main actress (Teacher) are quite good. That said, sadly, the whole plot screams low budget. The dialogue is cliche and the whole thing reminds me of a bad 80's or 90's movie. They had a good start with a pretty strong cast but no true skill in the writing and directing. The makeup for injuries and birth marks looks like it was drawn in with marker. I've never seen anything like it. I guess if you like Lifetime and you can look past the terrible makeup effects ... Have at it. There are some twists if you're not picky, however demented and far fetched they may be. I thought the whole thing tried too hard and failed miserably.

The first fifteen minutes build up and you sit back, thinking...hmmm...this MAY actually be a good movie. Then, wild inconsistencies begin and you think maybe the dog is laying on the remote and swiping channels back and forth, because it feels as though someone mashed together movie remnants with some semi-creepy music to try and tie it all together.

The plot holes thicken and did the mother DIE? When was there a VAMPIRE? Who put clown make up on a child and haven't you heard the male role in a LOT of voice-overs...great voice but he couldn't act like he was swimming even if you threw him in water.

There are some familiar themes.....like...wow teenage girls are a snotty boring group of meanies that need some vengeful spirit to appear and eat them all. And you sometimes can't tell if the main character is dreaming, you are dreaming, or why the make up and special effects went from"brilliant" to " throw a wig on a man with a huge hairy beard and try to pass him off as a woman."

There is some AMAZING comedy here, but I believe it is unintentional. If you MUST suffer through this, look for scenes when they are driving to school and the background changes from suburban to remote Kansas and back to suburbs, all in a three minute drive...and the father spending about ten minutes dueling with a coffee machine and then staring intently at it....you think maybe, just MAYBE that has hidden meaning or a theme....and then you realize the theme is how utterly inept the movie makers are at producing a movie. It would have been a far better ...and more believable....plot twist if the father went psycho and started to disembowel people with broken coffee pots instead of...well....hey...there is no spoiler here because you actually have to SEE it to experience the senselessness of it all.

The only thing I came out of this movie with was a distinct distaste for KIDS. Although, the classroom scene when they are in I think 6 th grade and one boy rode his Harley to school and it looks like another MAY just have gotten out of diapers....THAT is how BAD the movie is....the kids in the class range in age from like 5 to 19 and the teacher is a hot blonde who goes for the dad about the moment after his wife dies?

Spare yourself. Open eye. Stab with fork. That is the level of pain involved in WATCHING this movie

I'd argue that the kids are quite good when it comes to the acting department. Yet I understand if some do not like what they see. The story is intersting enough to say the least. Visually it works too ... and the drama is there as you can tell from the start and what the main character has to go through.

The way it handles its ending (resolution wise) may not be the best way possible (as I see it), but it still is a decent effort overall. There are better movies for sure, but I have seen way worse movies too, so there is that.