The biggest disappointment straight off the bat is that despite being rated R, this film at best can be described as PG , not even PG 13. There were maybe perhaps two scenes with split second of onscreen blood. The rest of the film plays out like a generic Goosebumps episode from the 90s. Actually, some of those episodes I watched as a kid had a more structured narrative to them, along with effective scares.

This movie could have easily been so much more than the bland tepid two hour jump scare montage. You have just one big house as the setting with many props dangling around. A good script writer , whose only aim would have been to scare the audience, could have easily designed an elaborate system of conflicts for the main characters to resolve one after the other in order to get to a goal. He could have easily even sacrificed a character to make the final resolution seem more significant. Yes, these methods are cliched but they would have been more effective in making a barebones horror film plot than the mess I saw splattered all over the screen. The characters don't have any arc. Only one of them somewhat has it but it comes off as the laziest way to conclude that arc.

In the scares department, you had random ghouls providing the jump scares. No introduction or character development was made for them. Guess they are all just sequel/spinoff bait in this muddled horror cinematic universe.

The only time I sort of felt engaged with the story was whenever the Lorraine couple featured in their brief cameos. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson have excellent chemistry as husband and wife and really makes you yearn to partake in that lovely experience. But basically everything else caused me disappointment. So don't but into these bafflingly high reviews made by the possessed and save yourself that ticket money. I hear Midsomner is coming out soon and that's apparently already a hit with the critics as a fine horror movie.