Jeff H. – Google

An American/ British combo cast that doesn’t work too well. This movie started out OK and has a truly effective scare in the first part, then it slows down and embraces long camera shots of the protagonist and ineffective dialogue. It tries to regain steam through a new twist but the characters are flat, even unnecessary, and this movie flops. I couldn’t wait for it to end. Too many drawn out scenes, and lousy characters.

I wanted to like this film and give it my recommendation. I can’t. Its a great story idea and a lot of work went into it, but by the time the movie gets going, I lost interest in the characters. Its about a 30- something man who drags his wife and 1-year old into the Irish forest to do tree experiments. He is warned to stop, refuses, and the Irish fairie-creatures attack him and his family. Just as the locals advised him. The story gets more confusing as it progresses, and most of the movie is filmed at night, in a forest, or in low light. Its hard to follow sometimes. The movie falls apart completely in the second half when the husband becomes possessed or occupied by tree roots or demons. The story isn’t cohesive. By the end, Id lost interest.

What a disappointment. This movie was highly polished in its attempt to recreate a 70’s movie set, but that money and work is wasted because the plot has no tension, momentum, or explanation. The young actors are mostly good, even though the script is not appropriate for the age group in question. The story is about missing boys taken from a tiny neighborhood in Denver. The idea that serial crimes of this type would occur as presented in the film, is unreal and destroys credibility going forward. There is no terror here despite the themes. Nathan Hawke’s character is never developed or explained, just a strange neighborhood magician, driving around the same two blocks of the Jr High using clusters of black balloons to force boys into his van in broad daylight. This is just not likely and reasonable, so the plot can’t be believed.

SPOILER AHEAD! A solid 3- star movie that is only diminished by the fact that the devil in this plot can actually kill anyone at any time, and theres no protection. Its an unfulfilling movie because theres no salvation for anyone and even peripheral characters are killed off for no reason. Theres plenty of dread—— this entire film is depressing and dark. But once you’ve seen that all the characters are doomed just because of wicked or evil forces that exist, theres no real mystery.