I thought this film was OK but nothing great. I mean, I thought Angela Bettis was brilliant in it and was pleased to see that she managed to keep the film from falling totally flat on its ass but that's the film's only saving grace (well, there's another one and I'll get to it in a second). It's certainly intriguing and how the victims meet their demise are slightly fun to see but said deaths are rather uninvolving and exist soley to titillate fans of gore. To me, the deaths were, although very inventive, dull. It did nothing for the movie whatsoever. As a horror, the film fails. Sure, it has cheap scares and plentiful of mystery but those who are bumped off...you don't feel any sympathy for them. Mind you, they're killed off that quickly and easily that it's hard to find any sympathy you may have for them. The only person I had sympathy for was Nell (a la Angela Bettis). Mainly because her character is only one in the film that is close to fully developed. Sure, we are introduced to others but what else?. However, there is another thing apart from Angela Bettis that keeps it going and that's the mystery of it all. When Nell decides to turn detective and investigate the history behind the building and those weird symbols, that's when the films jumps from being merely watchable to actually good. But it all backfires spectacularly when the boyfriend shows up and decides at that moment to save the day. This occurrence spoils the mystery plot line and the climax is just a clichéd stalk-and-slash (and the very Halloween-alike ending was a very bad idea). The mystery storyline is crippled at the end when the killer chooses not to kill Nell there and then because of the symbols on her arm. It was just too ridiculous really. Sure, the secret areas in the building was interesting but all because of black arts? Nah. The reason this element doesn't work is because it's supposed to be a horror/drama not sci-fi horror. Although the film does give early implications that the explanation for everything may be otherworldly ie the ominous music when Nell looks at the symbol near the start of the movie, it just doesn't work.
Overall, the film isn't a complete waste of time and doles out a few guilty pleasures to horror fans easily pleased, but for those, like me, who like their horrors well-done, this just isn't one of them.
Overall, the film isn't a complete waste of time and doles out a few guilty pleasures to horror fans easily pleased, but for those, like me, who like their horrors well-done, this just isn't one of them.