For the entire first half of the movie I kept finding myself thinking, "This really isn't that bad." Yes, the trailer ruins the movie (it's not the only twist but it is the major one, and is the primary reason that I've stopped watching trailers unless I'm unsure if I want to see the film) and so in the back of my head was always the knowledge of what was going to be revealed; I love that the producers tried to say that it doesn't spoil the movie, so stupid.
Still though, it was a relatively interesting story and Daniel Craig is almost always a commanding actor who can keep my attention. I was interested enough to keep going, despite some of the more obvious clichés of the horror genre, like building up suspense then dropping it and then having a loud noise to make the audience jump. Then the trailer twist was revealed and everything goes downhill after that. The tone of the film entirely shifts from this horror setup to a drama about an unstable man. The middle act was incredibly dull, despite Craig's best efforts it just felt like nothing was running well at all. I kept waiting for the film to end before it got worse, but boy it got to a level of bad that I was not expecting at all.
The producers kept saying that the twist in the trailer "wasn't the big twist" and they were right, but damn I wish they had been lying. When the "big twist" comes it all feels so rushed, underdeveloped and absolutely absurd. My mouth almost dropped open from just how hilariously stupid it was. As a huge fan of Craig, Rachel Weisz and horror, this ended up being a major disappointment. No wonder the two of them and Jim Sheridan refused to do any promotion for it.
Still though, it was a relatively interesting story and Daniel Craig is almost always a commanding actor who can keep my attention. I was interested enough to keep going, despite some of the more obvious clichés of the horror genre, like building up suspense then dropping it and then having a loud noise to make the audience jump. Then the trailer twist was revealed and everything goes downhill after that. The tone of the film entirely shifts from this horror setup to a drama about an unstable man. The middle act was incredibly dull, despite Craig's best efforts it just felt like nothing was running well at all. I kept waiting for the film to end before it got worse, but boy it got to a level of bad that I was not expecting at all.
The producers kept saying that the twist in the trailer "wasn't the big twist" and they were right, but damn I wish they had been lying. When the "big twist" comes it all feels so rushed, underdeveloped and absolutely absurd. My mouth almost dropped open from just how hilariously stupid it was. As a huge fan of Craig, Rachel Weisz and horror, this ended up being a major disappointment. No wonder the two of them and Jim Sheridan refused to do any promotion for it.