Imaginary

I don't know that anything could convince me that AI wasn't heavily involved with writing this. It's offensively bad. It's a boring concept, the bear is the least threatening thing I've ever seen, the plot barely exists, and it's way too long. I'd call it comically bad, but that would imply a "so bad it's good" sort of movie. It's almost insulting that Blumhouse is able to get away with making movies like this into a full theatrical release.

I hate this movie and everything that it represents. This is the laziest, most boring thing I've seen in ages, and there are people somewhere in Hollywood making millions of of it. Bleh.

It's just not scary. The cast aren't convincing enough, obviously not used to acting in a horror film. The storyline is confused in itself and doesn't know which direction to go in. Make up is so amateur; you can see the plastic on faces.

The actors just seem to go through the motions. They don't give any impression that they are being pursued by the 'Entity', do not show any fear in their faces.

The script seems to have stolen plots from 'Poltergeist' and 'The Conjuring'. But it just doesn't work. There are so many holes in the plot. Where was the girls father? Why didn't the mum ring him and tell him what was happening? Why wasn't the little girl showing any signs of being frightened?

Don't waste your time. Or your money.

Family moves to creepy house; a young child has paranormal experiences; a moody teen does moody teen things; not all the adults are what they seem; a character finds repressed memories are dragged up; yada, yada, yada.

It's not quite bad, but it certainly isn't good. There's a bit of Poltergeist, a bit of Nightmare on Elm Street, a bit of Labyrinth - and it's unclear whether this is meant as an homage-melange, or a pilfering of tropes from a variety of better films.

The film relies heavily on jump-scares, but there's little sense of terror. The twists can be seen coming a mile away. The ending is frankly lazy.

The cast do their best. Young Pyper Braun is good as the girl at the centre of things, DeWanda Wise OK as the step-mother trying to penetrate the mystery. The rest are either under-used or let down by a thin script and unimaginative direction (or both).

The special effects budget was clearly painfully small, and no-one was able to anything convincing or scary with it.

Not a film that will live long in the memory.

My wife and I attended a screening of the Blumhouse film Imaginary (2024) last night. The storyline revolves around a woman with a tragic past who marries a man with two children, all moving into the stepmother's childhood home. As they attempt to adapt to their new life, the ghosts from their past, both figuratively and literally, resurface.

Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2), the film stars DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World Dominion), Thomas Payne (The Walking Dead), Taegen Burns (The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers), Pyper Braun (Erin & Aaron), and Betty Buckley (Split).

Despite its potential with all of the worthwhile elements, the movie falls short in putting everything together. While the family dynamic and characters are well-established, the revelation of the plot's intricacies causes the film to unravel. DeWanda Wise delivers a solid performance, and Pyper Braun's child acting feels authentic. The horror elements show promise with a few effective jump scares and one notable, albeit more fun than good, kill scene. However, the poorly written and overacted character of the old lady detracts from the overall experience. The film's conclusion, despite a couple of clever twists, fails to salvage the narrative.

In conclusion, Imaginary possesses the ingredients for a worthwhile horror film but falters in execution. I'd give it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.

Okay. Bear with me here.

If you love "horror" movies where a child all by her lonesome descends stairs into a dark and dirty cellar where creepy noises emanate from, why, oh who cares if no kid would ever do this in like, ever.

If you get creeped out by a Swifty taking a selfie and in the background of that photo, yikes! Lookout! There's some old lady neighbor photobombing, and she's got to be at least in her sixties!

Terrifying!

The acting and writing are tiresome and totally unbelievable. Not only do they not seem like a family, they don't even seem like they know each other at all.

And lastly, if sitting in on child psychology sessions is your bag, get ready to fill that bag full with this film.

This movie should be Teddy Ruxspin spinning out of control.

That's what we're all here for.

But it's not. And never is.

The entire movies plods along at a 3 until the end.

The end is just okay.

Influences of the art of M. C. Escher and much better 1990's horror flicks.

And Betty Buckley. She's always great. But here there's no eight, and she's just not enough.

Not to save this.

That makes this movie a tad more bearable at 4 stars.