Director: Robert Wise
Year: 1977
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Noticing a stranger hanging around them, a girl's parents begin to feel uneasy after he claims that his young daughter has been reincarnated into their daughter yet when a series of strange accidents begin plaguing the family, they realize the deadly truth too late to stop them.
Review:
This one didn't have that many positives. One of the biggest is the sense of realism attached to the whole affair in that there's a real sense of this outlandish concept actually happening. These are played out mostly as panic attacks which become much more dangerous as they go on, letting them have a sense of being built up effectively. This makes them seem like an action to be feared as what's going to happen to top the last one remains a big aspect of the film overall. The majority of these are based on the idea of reliving the car crash that killed off her older self or throwing the furniture around the room which adds a special bit of action with the final one being long and really agonizing while even the actions to soothe her are quite thrilling and take on a sort of uneasy feeling. The film's highlight is the action carried out in the playground where there's real suspense as the rush to stop it from happening and the genuinely disturbing act itself make for a great scene. It works beautifully and really manages to get the film's sole creep-out moment. The only other fun part is the central idea of possession here is uniquely carried out, coming from a really creative viewpoint and offering up something that feels new and fresh. Otherwise, this one wasn't all that terrific.
This one does have some pretty big problems. One of the biggest problems is that there's really very little in here that is actually scary. While the constant freak-outs and erratic behavior might be unsettling for some, most of the time all it seems like is just a repetition of the same thing over and over again. After a while, it just produces a feeling of what room will it start in now which doesn't inspire any frights. That's not an entirely scary activity, and to have that become the sole purpose of the creepy behavior isn't that grand a concept since it simply feels like it's been seen before. This is also compounded by the relative lack of fear generated by the event. There's nothing in here that should make the viewer afraid of the act since all it boils down to is a young girl throwing screaming fits every now and then. Had the possession brought on more frightening acts or the fear of what the possessed girl would do under the influence, the victim would've been far more frightening. That is the film's biggest flaw, as well as not providing anything resembling an explanation for the events. That would've been a really rewarding aspect, had it ever been given why this was occurring. The last big problem is that it really feels drawn out and could've been shortened quite easily with too many scenes that go on and have no real bearing on the film. These are the film's biggest flaws and keep the film from really making its mark.
Overview: */5
A mildly decent film with several fatal ideas, but this one tends to waste nearly all of its positives on a slew of crippling, heavily damaging flaws which undermines this greatly. Those who are intrigued by this kind of style or are fans of this one from the source material will like this one the most while most others who aren't that impressed with these factors should heed caution.
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