The Skeptic - La casa maledetta

With a very alluring synopsis, I sat down to watch "The Skeptic" with the hopes for a haunting. However, the movie did turn out to be something beyond that. A good or bad thing? Well, I had expected it to be a supernatural story about a haunting, so my expectations were throws a bit off course with what the movie turned out to be.

"The Skeptic" starts out quite well and does build up some interesting characters and situations. And director Tennyson Bardwell did manage to keep the movie going at a good pace and build up some really tense situations. Personally, I didn't enjoy the revelation of what was really going on, although you did guess it about halfway through the movie, so it was not a surprise twist of events. Just a bit disappointing to me.

I don't think I have seen Tim Daly in anything since "Wings", which was a great show back then. So I wasn't sure what to expect here. But I was more than pleasantly surprised, because he really did a good job and carried the movie quite nicely. And he had most of the weight of the movie on his shoulders as he was essentially solo in the movie most of the time. But he held his ground and performed quite well.

What really worked out quite well for this movie was the character gallery. They had some very interesting and well-detailed characters in the storyline. And I was especially fond of Bryan Becket (played by Tim Daly) because of his skeptic approach to everything supernatural and his direct method of handling things. So the characters in the movie were well-rounded and had personalities and depth to them.

Now, there were very little special or practical effects in the movie, which was a disappointment to me. But of course, with what the movie actually turned out to be, it would have made no sense to have had "The Skeptic" to be a movie filled with special effects.

There were some good and tense moments here and there throughout the course of the movie, but I wouldn't really say that this movie was rich on actual scary moments. So the thriller aspect of the movie outweighs the horror aspect, just as a heads up.

"The Skeptic" is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing, because the storyline just doesn't have enough aspects, levels or depth to support entertainment for more than a single viewing.

I was fairly entertained, but found the turn of events and the root of actual events to be a bit disappointing. And as such, then I am rating "The Skeptic" a mediocre five out of ten stars.

Honestly I was really enjoying this, but I feel like it ended too abruptly/prematurely right when we should've gotten a more intense and emotional "fight scene" I guess you could say. Honestly even another 10-20 minutes could've really helped make the ending more enjoyable and satisfying. I was also hoping we would see more of Cassie and that she would play a role in the ending of the movie. I would probably have rated this a bit higher if it wasn't for the ending because I feel like it had interesting characters and dynamics, as well as good performances from all of the cast. If you're on the fence about watching this, I would say do it since it was pretty enjoyable for the most part!

I have seen hundreds of horror movies. There isn't much in the genre that shocks me anymore. New releases (whether original or remakes of classics) hit the theaters on a regular basis, all with variations of the standard "Scariest film of the year!" review. In my opinion almost all have be mediocre at best, failing to live up to the hype that preceded them. Sadly, it has been decades since a horror film caused me to jump and scream at various times. I'm thrilled to report that "The Skeptic" was able to do just that, which means I'm recommending it as a must-see for all lovers of "haunted house" films who thought they'd seen it all before.

The title character is a lawyer, Brian Becket (brilliantly played by Tim Daly). Becket is someone you'll love to hate, someone you can't wait to see get "his comeuppance". He is self-assured, sarcastic, arrogant, insensitive, emotionally frigid and (of course) skeptical of everything. He will not give credence to beliefs that can't be backed up with indisputable facts. Upon moving into the home of a recently deceased aunt he begins to experience strange phenomena that he, at first, believes are hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation and high stress. As the film unfolds, Becket learns shocking truths about his aunt's house and his own past. Through the course of the film he slowly begins to change...and the proverbial shoe moves to the other foot. He is now the one who must successfully explain the unexplainable to skeptics...and he frustratingly cannot win a single argument because there are rational explanations for everything. About half-way through the film you'll stop hating Becket and not only start liking him, but begin empathizing with him and eventually feel sorry for him.

This film has everything you could possibly want in a "haunted house" film: an eerie-looking mansion filled with bizarre antiques, creaky floors and dark corners, a mysterious locked closet, ghostly images that will truly come out of nowhere, etc. What this film does not have is a satisfying ending. To those who enjoy psychoanalyzing films for hidden meanings, the ending will be poignant and acceptable. To others, the ending will be an abrupt disappointment and can be summed up this way: "That's it?!?

THE BOTTOM LINE: On a scale of 1-10, it is a very strong 8. I highly recommend "The Skeptic" to all horror/thriller buffs who are looking for a great "haunted house" story. If you are a fan of blood and gore, this film won't deliver. If you prefer movies with endings that neatly tie off all their loose ends, this film won't deliver either. HOWEVER...if you enjoy films filled with riveting suspense that slowly builds, throwing unexpected shockers at you along the way, then you will really enjoy this film.

I was hoping for something better from the skeptic really. It was a film that was not very scary and yet again its another film with a bad ending that makes it feel like it was not worth it. So theres this man called bryan. He gets a call the second his aunt is found dead and just like that he moves into the house she has left behind. Bryan does not actual own the house as his aunt left it to an institute that specilises in paranormal stuff so he helps them and zoe saladana and in the process discovers things about his own past. The script was written quickly the acting is decent just not a scary film.

I found this film in a pile of movies at a pawn shop near my house. As a fan of the IFC line of films, I decided to pick it up. This movie unfolds at a very good pace. Every scene seemed important and the entertainment did not die down once. This is a ghost story type of movie and honestly it kinda felt like a TV movie, but that just made for a warm feel. Fellas, it's a good movie to watch with your girlfriend, but don't expect blood and guts because its the uneasy type of scary that this films delivers. There should be more low key horror films like this. another title that's similar but a little upscale with the terror is "The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh". I highly recommend it if you liked "The Skeptic".