Jos Witt

GENUINE REVIEW I am not giving this two stars because of the gore. If you watch this film and you are sensitive to graphic themes then any discomfort and upset over this film is 100% on you. The film was extremely gruesome and difficult to watch; this isn’t criticism, but it depicts nudity, sexual violence, self harm, pedophilia, blood, birth, body mutilation. I’m sure there’s more. Watching this film expect nothing less than the most gory thing you’ve ever seen. The low review I have left isn’t due to the gore, but the storyline. Compared to the first one, which was well paced, full of twists and turns, and felt like a proper film, this film really missed the mark. The concept of this film was great, but instead of a well thought out storyline, it felt like pure shock factor with very little ‘action’ until the last 20 minutes. The rest of the film is just him collecting bodies. The ending was very unsatisfying, I would have liked to have known what happened to the pregnant woman who managed to escape. I would have liked to have known more about his home life and about his mum. The lack of dialogue is a bit annoying as well; I’m aware this is to show Martin’s lack of mental sanity, and the fact that he has psychiatric problems, but again, this made it feel like a perverted film rather than a film about a pervert. Anyhow, if you’re comfortable with gore then give it a watch, but don’t expect a storyline like the first film.

SPOILERS AHEAD i don’t understand all the hate on this film. granted, many of the scenes were difficult to watch (the hamster scene and the sex tape scene especially). people don’t seem to understand the reason for these scenes. it is clear that she is choosing who should be her ‘cubby’. she evidently doesn’t like sally from the start; her behaviour during the dressing up game, her hysterical crying during the hamster scene, and her discomfort watching her parents’ sex tape cause emelie to demonstrate a particular dislike to sally. the youngest child is unfazed by everything; he feeds the hamster to the snake, he watches the sex tape seemingly unfazed, he is unbothered by his seriously injured (almost dead) usual babysitter being dragged into the house, and he generally warms to the babysitter. a film where a babysitter is just trying to kill them would be extremely cliché, hence the numerous demonstrations of her as a psychopath before the physical violence starts. i thought the acting was authentic. the children were great - it was obviously partly unscripted, making the sibling dynamic as well as their general demeanours very realistic. overall, if you’re a horror lover then 100% give it a try. if you’re more new to the genre, then maybe try something milder first as i can understand that some of the scenes are pretty troubling to watch, especially if you have young children yourself. seeing the way she treats them in the first half is, oddly, more difficult to watch. we are so exposed to the gore and physical violence that comes in any horror film, however, something about seeing such grotesque emotional abuse towards young children is incredibly troubling. it’s all part of the shock factor, i guess. i wish we got to see the babysitter get caught at the end, but we instead see her running away, leaving a slight hole in what would ideally be a satisfying ending. aside from that, it’s a great film worth your time.