The Door

What was enjoyable about this movie for me was that the (HD?) camera work was clean and nicely composed, the direction and acting was entirely competent and the editing was cool too, in what I imagine was a film with a relatively modest budget. A pleasant change from average Hollywood. It was made by people with a real feeling for film. Mariah Bonner as the librarian was a bonus who definitely did not hurt the eyes. Shame she was an early victim.

The story wasn't great, though it exploited common enough fears of things that are half-seen (or were they there at all?), and move in the night (as opposed to go bump in the night). And the placebo effect is undoubtedly real, though whether it's killed anyone is questionable, I'd say, certainly in Western cultures.

I did once see a shadow person in bright daylight (or did I?). I was about three at the time, and lying in bed. The shadow of a figure ran across the wall, flowed into a shallow recess, slid behind a wardrobe, came out the other side, and vanished. It was more scary than Shadow People, and as you can tell, I haven't forgotten it. However, the good news (for anyone who's worried) is that it hasn't reappeared since, and 70+ years later I'm still here.

"How do you stop thinking about something." Charlie Crowe (Roberts) is a talk show host who's ratings are slipping and he is worried that he may get canceled. When a young man calls in one night and tells him about a nightmare he is having he thinks its a joke and hangs up on him. After receiving a package from him he takes it a little more serious, then after the next time he calls it changes everything. Charlie is now trying to figure out what he saw. This is a very interesting movie but I wouldn't call it a straight horror movie. The movie is interesting enough to keep you watching and interested but I didn't think it was scary in the classic sense. The only movie I can really compare this to is The Fourth Kind in the way that it mixes "real" footage with the movie footage which makes it a little more creepy. It is a hard movie to recommend because it doesn't really fit into a specific genre but I will say that it kept me interested the entire time. Overall, not a bad movie but nothing amazing either. I give it a C+.

When at the beginning I saw the 'Reality' footage added in, I thought immediately that I was NOT going to like this (I HATE 'Reality Shows' and most 'Found Footage' films) But, I must say, that it was actually used very judiciously throughout the movie.

I don't usually care for Dallas Roberts that much either, but I must admit that he did a decent job in his role. Every time I see the guy, I get this eerie feeling that John Ritter has been resurrected! DAMN! Also, as you actually get to see the real people here involved in the 'True' case, it does have a sneaky way of drawing you into the film.

With such a simple concept, the way it was done was decent and moderately effective. When I saw the REAL guy I truly felt quite sorry for him, especially when they show the credits at the end (not to give anything away) I really just felt bad for him.

I think the thing that I appreciated most was that the way it was put together and the way it was put across, you never get the feeling that the film makers are exploiting the idea like so many other 'True' stories. Especially with the footage of the real guy, you get a strong sense that they are honestly trying to portray events as they actually 'happened'.

A surprisingly interesting and mildly effective film that somewhat surpassed my earlier expectations...

I hope this review does not conflict with the User Review Guidelines.

The opening said was based on facts. Why was the movie not filmed in Eastern Kentucky?

The jumping required me to watch it again to pickup the story line better.

If I were able to pay more attention, I wouldn't have had to watch it a second time.

The basic premise to me would have been better if it were a documentary. Maybe even a miniseries.

More time given to the background as it relates to the story. I would have wanted more history on the Charlie Crowe character. This along with more history on the shadow people, when the stories were first written down.

If the movie comes on again I may watch it again.

This is a very solid little horror film that does a great job of combining mock-documentary footage and a straight narrative. Also, the filmmakers have seeded the film with subliminal word messages hidden in a few quick cuts and blurry images, which is kind of funny and amusing. It's individual words sprinkled through the film o spell out: NOW YOU WILL SEE THEM TOO!!! I really appreciate this little touch and would love to read or hear about this choice. I watched it on VOD, so now I'll have to pick up a copy of the DVD or blu-ray to see if they talk about this at all.

I am a sucker for a good ghost story, and while this isn't "ghosts", it is creepy and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end more than once. It also reminds me of my college days of staying up late and listening to Art Bell on his spooky AM radio talk show.

If you like creepy, slow-burn horror you should defiantly give this a watch.