Neverknock

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

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.

Decades after a horrific tragedy, a group of teens innocently partaking of a Halloween tradition release a ravenous creature in their small-town which begins feeding on their fears in order to kill them one-by-one and forces them to find a way to stop the creature's rampage.

This one here wasn't all that bad of an effort. One of the more prominent aspects of this one is the fact that this one really manages to incorporate a fine small-town feel throughout here. From the beginning with the crowded streets bustling with trick-or-treaters and seeing the decorations spread out here, it sets up the close-knit community very nicely while all the fine attractions and games that grounds this one nicely for its later set-up with the creature. Coming to life in the form of the superstitious ritual where the remote house is brought into play and the actions featured manage to give this the kind of charge which comes from this early setup as the idea that the creature needs to exploit your fears is woven nicely into the film as a whole. Those scenes here are where this one really works as the startling creepy ideas of their fears get exploited while in creepy locations, as the strong scenes in the haunted house where it features the fear of the lost sister and one characters' fear of blood to great effect in the darkened corridors of the house which gives this a strong and wholly stylish start to this. The later scenes here that take advantage of this factor, from the frantic search for her sister that includes the dizzying exploits in the corn maze to the scenes in the woods and finally them coming back into town where it shows how each one tends to let their fears get the better of them as they deal with the creature attacking them following an encounter. These offer up not only some rather fun action scenes here as the creature's constant activities bring about a thrilling pace while also giving this rather creepy moments. The other bit that works well here is the exceptional creature at the center of this one, which works so well here due to the idea of making this a real-life creature rather than a CGI creation as this blends into the scenes so well and adds an extra dimension to these scenes. Coupled with the fine gore featured, these here hold this one up rather nicely over it's few minor troublesome areas. The main sore point with this one is the fact that there's just way too much time spent in the first half of the group going around on the disappearance, tending to take up a little bit more time than would be expected in the corn-maze or out wandering the woods doing nothing but running in circles which is a bit redundant. As well, the final resolution to beat the monster is a bit weak and seems like a lame cheat to finally end it all which makes no sense and gives it a rather weak conclusion. Otherwise, there's a lot to like with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Syfy's time of the year is here - Returning TV movie director Sheldon Wilson takes on 2017 with Neverknock; In a sense we pretty much follow a group of friends who decide to embark the Halloween night out around the town. Said town has a legend upon a specific house, 59 Oakwood lane. While out, they overall provoke the legend - And have to now survive and then some. Honestly, compared to some other SyFy original Halloween films, this one isn't the all time worst. However not entirely great either. The plot is a clichéd endeavor for sure. How many times have we followed characters who decided to provoke a legend, thus leading them to constantly run from said legend / entity - uncovering more and more of it? Get ready to watch it again! Only this time it involves knocking on a door! The overall following story- line and plot just prevail as tired, as well as just something we've seen many times before in general. The entity / monster we get to watch actually seems to borrow heavily from iconic Freddy Krueger, seeming to lead on a demon contortionist version of him. This can only be emphasized if the movie is seen - to not spoil. To keep fair, however. This film manages to keep said creature interesting, leaving us to want more of him. His gimmick is, much like the plot, clichéd however. We've had such a gimmick through a threat also done plenty times before. However through a visual stand. The entity.. or "The Neverknocker" looked well done for the most part, standing out as practical, and not CGI, which for me personally was an interesting surprise; Going into this film completely blind, not knowing this was even premiering, the visuals including the Neverknocker, and overall camera work was all pleasant surprises, comparing to other SyFy films that is. The acting isn't the most abysmal either, with the exception that there are a select few that emphasize flimsy, as well as a few who seem to not even care. Looking back further upon the film however, most to pretty much all the characters weren't the more intriguing. The film seemed to focus solely upon their fears ( Which were the most common or basic. ) Not so much upon the characters themselves. We only truly focus on two characters, others there for the sake of dying, it'd seem. For what story or background was given, it wasn't the most in depth-given. Again, it seemed to give off a vibe that it was just there for the sake of being there, or giving the monster a motive. With the given story, really, the film seemed to drag upon getting to the point; Despite the overall pacing being actually decent, the point being drawn across the line was overly slow it felt. As audience, sitting there listening to out characters sit, yelling "JENNA, JENNA! WHERE ARE YOU!" Throughout the first 15 - 25 minutes or more of the film, we sit and listen to the characters yell each other's name, running around constantly continuing such, not ceasing to do so for a bit of a tediously long amount of time.

To conclude - If you're going into this with typical SyFy original movie expectations, you may find a slight, slight surprise or two. However this film is nowhere near special, spectacular, or unique. With a cliché, tired plot as well as creature flick motive / gimmick, In and out pointless characters, and rushed-like actions that follow. This film could've been so much worse - But still had relatively bad, noticeable cons. Though as said. This had a surprise or two. This wasn't the worse film. It just became tired after time as it used and based its entirety on a gimmick - The never-knocker. As said his motive is heavily similar to Freddy Kruger. ( I can't emphasize my view upon that factually enough. ) Fears kill. Hint, hint. Finally the payoff, ending perhaps even wasn't really worth the ride, lowering my view on this overall experience just a bit. Like this entire film, nothing spectacular, nothing new, and I could even go as far as to say disappointing. Would I recommend giving this film a watch? If you're bored, looking for something to just watch with a group of friends - This would probably be a good resort. This is simply another SyFy film with a bit of a pleasant little outcome. Note - LITTLE. But for me personally. It wasn't terrible; Just over the top cliché offerings that didn't totally work.

Saw 'Neverknock', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.

Giving 'Neverknock' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be better than expected. It is still a rather mediocre film and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.

'Neverknock' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue. The antagonist was creepy at times and there are a few neat kills.

Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected, and the music, which not the most memorable in the world, didn't detract from the atmosphere.

The setting is effectively spooky and a few actors were not bad. There are spooky and suspenseful moments and it isn't dull in the first, and the storytelling at first does intrigue.

However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, parts are so silly it is hard to take it seriously or trying hard not to.

Ending is completely unsatisfying, so clumsy, predictable, cheesy and stupid. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense, scares could have been more consistent and some weren't surprising enough.

Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a fair bit of cheese and blandness going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making. Too many of the actors are poor, Dominique Provost Chalkley grating on the nerves. The direction too often feels phoned in and most of the kills were uncreative and tame. Even the antagonist got cheesy as the film progressed.

Altogether, mediocre but could have been worse. 4/10 Bethany Cox