Neverknock

If you don't mind B-D list actors doing super predictable things then you will not be disappointed. Some decent special effects earned this rating.

So this is the typical teenage scream movie. Dominique Provost-Chalkley spent two hours screaming throughout the whole thing. For me, it got to be too much. I like her in Wynona Earp but not so much in this movie. The really disappointing thing was the cheesy monster I think they could have done better. Anyway, after about 20 minutes I was pretty sure how it would end.

It was an all around fun story with relatable highschool students that only get borderline cliche at times. It has got some gore, but nothing too brutal. It's sorta like 'Monster House' so if that's nostalgic for you and you enjoy more adult horror movies then I think you'll have fun with this. It's a pretty original setup compared to most modern day horror films. My personal favorites are the ones that really terrify me, but I'm never upset to say I at least had a good time.

In 1986 Halloween, 3 trick-or-treaters are killed after knocking on the door of 59 Oakwood Lane. One is found with Never Never Knock carved into his belly. The case remains unsolved and the house becomes urban legend over the next 40 years. In present day, Leah (Jodelle Ferland) and her friends invite troubled Grace (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) to a haunted house show. Grace survived a car fire which killed her mother. She brings along little sister Jenna. The group decides to do the Never Knock. Jenna disobeys Grace and knocks on the door after bloodying her hand.

Daylight often kills horrors. That is the major drawback in this movie. It would help in the kills and especially the CGI monster. All the CGI looks cheap which is par for TV movies. The idea of a creature killing with your greatest fear is good. The creature design is feasible and should only come on the screen after day turns into night. The horror designs are simply not good enough. It needs more creepy atmosphere. Otherwise, it's functional as a lower grade horror. The filmmaking is inferior but passable as a TV movie.

The Scyfy Channel are infamous for their bad films but it's rare they do horror. History has shown they can actually pull it off and within the first 15 minutes of Neverknock I was oddly gripped.

The film was tense, the concept original and I expected this to turn out to be a surprisingly entertaining little gem.

Sadly the movie runs out of steam quite early on, as if they ran out of ideas. Alas this doesn't turn around and plods along to a laughable pitiful finale that I actually did facepalm at.

Don't get me wrong Neverknock has a lot going for it and is still perfectly watchable, it's just one of those films that should/could have been so much better.

Further to its credit it actually looks great and raises the question why more Scyfy originals don't have the same level of cgi and practical effects.

Starring former child star favourite Jodelle Ferland this is still worth your time but don't expect the greatness that it failed to attain.

The Good:

Original

Fairly decent kills

Good antagonist

The Bad:

Loses steam real quick

Incredibly dumb ending

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I suddenly want to knock on that door just to see what I'm scared of