I decided since I don’t go to the movies often but have a lot to say when I do, I’m going to review them afterwards 
WARNING- SPOLER ALERT! DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE AND BE SURPRISED…
I would urge you watch and make sure its at the cinema.
SO. (personal view on horror films, you may want to skip ahead) I went to see this film with high hopes that it would leave me scared to enter a dark room alone. This is because I personally miss the feeling of being terrified after watching a movie. It happened a lot when I was younger, but somewhere along the way like everyone else, emotions were de-sensitized and the ability to really, really feel something, whether its the joy of blowing bubbles or the fear of monsters under your bed; was withdrawn a little through my “maturity”. Don’t get me wrong, I still love bubbles and I still have nightmares. I like it though, it reminds me that I’m alive. Feeling constantly neutral is boring. So yes, when I heard reviews from friends saying they left shaking and pale and my sister had trouble sleeping I thought ,”I’m in!”
The film was about astral projection, out of body experiences. It was more extreme in this film though and involved certain people having enhanced abilities in travelling out of body. Their souls leaving their body an unconscious vessel and traveling too far, getting lost in “The further”; the place where all the dead souls are still wandering around hoping to live again and jump at the chance to steal this body that is currently without its soul. Some are just sad souls who dream to live again and some are parasitic demons who wants to cause harm and destruction and need a body to do so.
I have to say the first half of the film, though slow-going, was probably my favourite bit. I find films scarier when they have that eerie, realistic sense that just can’t seem to be explained. Better still with that “home-movie” camera effect because it makes it seem like a true story. When you put yourself in that situation you go “Oh my god I’d run if that was me” or whatever. As the story unravelled it all made more sense and it was quite an interesting idea, but the part that really got me was the jumpy uncovering of the “visitors.” For example the weird caped man that paces up and down the patio and that scene where there’s banging on the door and the security alarms going off. I literally left my seat with a jump as the whole audience simultaneously noticed the face through the curtain staring into the crying baby’s room. It was an awesome unveiling and following up that freaky discovery with the father of the house checking for people and after he locked the door and returned upstairs, to go back down and see the lock broken, door wide open, revealing the darkness of the outside was just so unnerving it worked perfectly.
Anyway, though they kept up their ability to make us jump, I also feel that they revealed a little TOO much. Things they couldn’t follow up to… Mainly the demon they most feared. Don’t let Leigh Whannell (woo!) scribble down some awesome sketch of this hellish black figure with his red face and black hole eyes, with the kid describing him as a guy with “fire on his face”; then show loads of him towards the end looking way too human, with green eyes, and face paint that reminded us all way too much of Darth Maul; using a sewing machine, while his silhouette -to me- resembled count Olaf from Lemony Snicket’s “A series of unfortunate events”. They threw on some hooves, a forked tongue and a tail, and when he burst out of the cupboard it created another good jump from the audience, but I really think they should have used some special effects or something and made him more alarming.
I did however, like the other “visitors” who were just lost souls looking for a body to possess and had some crazy expressions and scenarios. The face on the woman who shot her family was priceless. There were actually a few comedic parts in the film. By the way, loved those glasses with the tiny torches on.
There were a few parts that ruined it purely because they made the audience crack up and ruin the atmosphere, it was funny but for example, when Josh’s mother reveals to him that he used to travel too, that she had to seek help to stop his night terrors and keep him away from visitors; she hands him photographs of a woman in a veil who is constantly being captured in the pictures behind him, moving in closer. She can’t be seen in real life but in photographs its clear as day, and the fact that the pictures made her look so obvious kept making the audience laugh.
Overall though I think that they executed this idea very well. I thought the ending was interesting in that you thought it was all okay but the old woman, being able to see souls all the time snuck out a camera to take a picture of Josh, who then killed her for it and you realized it was his body but not his soul. It was the woman from the mirror. At first I was a little confused as I thought, when Josh was in that chair with all the soul’s all around him, he woke up before they could touch him. However it was reminded that he was looking at the woman mirrored and moving backwards while he shouted at her to leave, therefore she was probably already in him, or moving into him then and there.
I can’t say I was too fond of the aggressive and frantic music it played over the title at the end though. lol. It just seemed a bit unnecessary and a bit too loud in the cinema. Funny though.
Anhyway probably not a film to watch twice, unless you think you missed anything, but not a bad film in conclusion. If you did read this and didn’t notice, look out for the little jigsaw doll when you watch
(on the blackboard behind Josh when he’s staying late at school)
nor did he miss the lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lonely part towards the end of “Ask the lonely” after the intense words that follow the chorus (LOVE THAT BIT)
