This is a movie that attempts to combine the horror and courtroom genres and falls flat on its face somewhere in a yawning void between them. The supposedly 'horrific' scenes are devoid of chills, shocks or atmosphere; the scenes in court are without tension or credibility. None of the cast come across as real characters; most of the acting could be described as sub-par for a daytime soap opera.
The writers (who also occupied the Director's and Producer's chairs) said that they made a deliberate decision to avoid using a 'look and feel' that might be considered too familiar by horror fans. One example they gave of this concept in action was the rejection of school locations with Gothic architecture in favour of a more ordinary, everyday building and campus. Unfortunately, they took the ploy too far and ended up choosing settings which had no ability to create mood or cause suspension of disbelief at any level. The school buildings were reminiscent of one of those indoor car parking facilities built out of bad concrete; the only thing to be said in their favour was that, unlike the courtroom set, they didn't make me think that the walls would wobble if one of the cast bumped into them.
The (not so) special effects were no doubt intended to be subtle; in fact, they were so subtle that they made no impact whatsoever. A child with a Walmart Halloween play-set could probably have devised a more impressive spectacle.
There are unintentionally funny moments when the writers wish to impress us with the cut and thrust of the opposing lawyers' eloquence. A great screenwriter can sometimes take weak, banal or vapid material and use pace, action or the sheer power of well-crafted words to distract us and hold us to the end of the picture - but this movie does not have the advantage of anything remotely like a good script. Consequently, we are all too aware of every clanking, clunking line...and there are many of them - all delivered by actors whose performances range from ham to cardboard. When so many players in one production fail to register as believable characters, the Director must be held accountable.
The best horror films succeed by taking their audiences out of the real world and replacing normal logic with the story's own internal laws and rules - in such a way that we can be sucked into accepting unreal situations as real. A skillful writer would not wish to constantly stop the flow of the narrative and keep on reminding the viewer of alternative interpretations - but that is exactly what happens in this film. It is a scrappy, unsatisfying and shoddy effort.
The writers (who also occupied the Director's and Producer's chairs) said that they made a deliberate decision to avoid using a 'look and feel' that might be considered too familiar by horror fans. One example they gave of this concept in action was the rejection of school locations with Gothic architecture in favour of a more ordinary, everyday building and campus. Unfortunately, they took the ploy too far and ended up choosing settings which had no ability to create mood or cause suspension of disbelief at any level. The school buildings were reminiscent of one of those indoor car parking facilities built out of bad concrete; the only thing to be said in their favour was that, unlike the courtroom set, they didn't make me think that the walls would wobble if one of the cast bumped into them.
The (not so) special effects were no doubt intended to be subtle; in fact, they were so subtle that they made no impact whatsoever. A child with a Walmart Halloween play-set could probably have devised a more impressive spectacle.
There are unintentionally funny moments when the writers wish to impress us with the cut and thrust of the opposing lawyers' eloquence. A great screenwriter can sometimes take weak, banal or vapid material and use pace, action or the sheer power of well-crafted words to distract us and hold us to the end of the picture - but this movie does not have the advantage of anything remotely like a good script. Consequently, we are all too aware of every clanking, clunking line...and there are many of them - all delivered by actors whose performances range from ham to cardboard. When so many players in one production fail to register as believable characters, the Director must be held accountable.
The best horror films succeed by taking their audiences out of the real world and replacing normal logic with the story's own internal laws and rules - in such a way that we can be sucked into accepting unreal situations as real. A skillful writer would not wish to constantly stop the flow of the narrative and keep on reminding the viewer of alternative interpretations - but that is exactly what happens in this film. It is a scrappy, unsatisfying and shoddy effort.