ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

TinsHeadline Touches You

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Davis P This remake of the 50s classic horror movie is overall so so. I'll go over the things about it that I liked, then I'll list what I disliked about it. I liked the cast, I thought every actor did a pretty good job with their role, especially Famke. I thought she was the best and by far the most interesting person in the film. The plot has a few things in it you may not see coming, or at least I didn't. I was glad the film at least had a few surprises because I didn't want to watch a completely generic horror film. Now don't think that the entire film is original or interesting because it's not. There are many parts of the movie that are very predictable and really not all that good. One thing that I especially took notice of as being terrible was the special effects towards the end of the film. It's literally impossible for this movie to be scary when it's this predictable and the effects are so terribly done. This movie isn't one that I recommend seeing. I suggest watching a more worthy horror movie, one that's actually scary. 5/10.

Leofwine_draca The Hollywood remake machine goes into auto-production with this thinly-plotted and rather unnecessary rehash of William Castle's classy fun-filled fright fest, which utilised the talents of an exceptionally hammy Vincent Price and had plenty of macabre laughs to keep things moving. Forty years later, only the quality of the special effects have improved, but the film falls down everywhere else. It's a sad state when the art of film-making actually appears to have gone into regression instead of progressing.This admittedly glossy production starts off on the right foot with an old-fashioned "inmates taking over the asylum" scene complete with bloody torture, gruesome murder, and a cameoing Jeffrey Combs as a crazed doctor complete with goggle glasses and a demented grin. From then on the film plays out much of the plot of the original, right down to the guns encased in little coffins, but it ruins things by actually making the film too complicated. While the first film had a nice, simple to follow plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end, the remake tries to have too many plot strands and ends up coming off as a muddled mess. It's a shame, really, as there are some really nice ideas swimming around in this mess of a film (I especially liked the bit with the video camera, and some of the artier supernatural moments).By the ending, things have predictably become routine, with the survivors running away from a special effect and trying not to get killed. Things are pretty frantic, but it all rings a bit hollow to tell the truth. The whole subplot concerning Price's wife having an affair with a guest is totally spoilt by having one too many twists and turns and ends up being pointless anyway as all three are dead by the end of the film. The acting is pretty bad; the actors and actresses here really should have learned the meaning of the word "restraint" as they ham for all they're worth, especially in the cases of Geoffrey Rush (a surprise, considering his recent Oscar winning) and Famke Janssen (annoying). The only thing of note about Rush is his uncanny resemblance to Vincent Price; otherwise, his hammy routine quickly becomes a bore. Of the rest of the cast, only Taye Diggs and Ali Larter come out with any respect, as the rest of the actors are a totally charisma-free bunch.The tone of this film is a light one, but oddly enough there are a number of very dark and grisly scenes too. These lie oddly together, and the film unsuccessfully tries to blend the horror and comedy genres, but sadly fails. Gore highlights basically consist of dismembered and mutilated corpses, which run the gamut from decapitation to total dissection. The special effects are good, yes, but it all gets a little CGI-heavy towards the ending. Once again we have some great SFX trapped in a below average film, with a clichéd and unoriginal plot and poor acting too. Whichever way you look at this, you're bound to be disappointed.

FlashCallahan When billionaire Stephen Price and his wife, Evelyn, offer six strangers one million dollars each, there is only one rule to the game,they'll have to survive one night in a former mental institution.But it's supposedly haunted by the ghosts of the inmates killed there, and an insane doctor who did unspeakable things.At first, everyone is having fun, thinking that the whole thing is a joke. But once the entire house automatically seals itself shut, they realise that this is real.....If you've seen the rest of these remakes by Dark Castle, you will know that they are nothing more than trashy remakes, that look great, are lots of fun, but totally empty.This was one of the first, but you cannot help but admire Silver and Zemeckis for getting really prolific actors to ham it up in the name of entertainment.It's not a traditional horror movie as in the fact that it's not scary at all, just full of wonderful over the top scenes, and a set that is just beautiful.Rush channels Vincent Price and John Waters down to a tee, and owns the film, and the rest of the cast are either really arrogant or scared out of their wits.The only problem is that the film doesn't know how to end, and it feels too rushed and forced.Other than that, it's lot of silly fun.

A_Different_Drummer Some of this reviewers need to take a chill pill. There is a huge difference between a remake (which statistically Hollywood tends to mess up more often than it succeeds) and a re-imagining, where the Rulebook is thrown out the window and, basically, its No Holds Barred. This is a re-imagining and as such it is really a lot of fun. It is one thing to make the jump from B&W to colour. It is an entirely different order of magnitude to pump up your re-do with hi tech special effects, magic glasses that enable the characters to see what should not be seen, and at the finale, some sort of giant clockwork that you would otherwise expect to find in Dr. Who. This film was released at Halloween, which means in effect that the studio was looking for a fast buck and not trying to produce THE MATRIX. I think they exceeded their own expectations. A great cast, recognizable names, and the wandering through the basement is very creepy and good scary fun.