It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

When a relative passes, a man inherits her decrepit old mansion and coming to learn she believed it haunted sets out to prove it was simply a matter of unrecognizing everyday events around her unaware of a deadly secret lurking within its walls.This here turned out to be an incredibly dull and barely worthwhile entry. The main problem here, which just about ruins the film right off the bat, is the fact that the film's about a person's nature of being skeptical, a trait which means that every time something supposedly supernatural could happen it's always shot down as realistic instead of supernatural, a rather distressing fact made more damaging due to being presented as absolute fact with constant berating and mocking directed at those who think otherwise. This behavior, from the lead no less, makes it an almost unbearable act to get into the film from the beginning as being around such an irritating figure is hard to stand. That this is given to other characters, who each spend most of the time engaging in the same exact behavior throughout the entire film of making it attempt to be realistic rather than trying to emphasize the supernatural hauntings really makes the film's attempts at generating scares pretty worthless. The banging off-screen doors, whispering voices and moving objects to different locations that are being used for that purpose then don't mean anything when they occur since it's all pretty much ignored and explained, reducing their effectiveness long before how tame they are ruins the film in that manner, leaving this whole thing incredibly flawed with a damaging gimmick, lame scares and a boring pace which really kills off the few positive points it developed.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

TIM DALY stars as a skeptical lawyer with no belief in the supernatural who moves into the house of a deceased aunt when his marriage breaks up. He soon believes that he's not alone in the creepy mansion and begins to doubt his sanity after some encounters of a ghostly kind that might just be happening in his head.Before he knows it, he's getting assistance from a woman psychic (ZOE SALDANA) who tells him the house holds a grim secret. Gradually, we discover that the key to the haunting lies in his past, when he was subjected to harsh treatment at the age of five from a mother whose punishment makes "Mommie Dearest" look like "Snow White." So far, so good. There are some nice shivery moments but we keep hoping for our hero to see the light and discover just what is going on. It takes a little too long to reach that conclusion and when it does, the ending is an unsatisfying letdown that leaves you jolted just as the end credits begin to unfold. That's it? Yes, an ambiguous and terribly disappointing and empty stone wall conclusion that provides more questions than answers.Most viewers will feel cheated by the ending, after a fairly good case of goose pimples from a low key, rather tepid ghost story. In the central role of the lawyer, Tim Daly proves almost as adept at drama as he was in comedy roles. TOM ARNOLD, as a sympathetic colleague, has little to do but bark his lines in snappy fashion.

Just saw this last night and really liked it for the following reason(s):A good, smart thriller that does not feel it needs to hit you over the head to make its points. The creaking noises, the visions that you don't know if are real or a product of this guy's imagination (hey, he had a history of psychiatric treatment). I loved the characters, especially Tim Daily's Brian and Zoe Saldana's Cassie. They are not perfect or good, or even necessarily provoke much sympathy in the viewer, until the movie develops and you peel many layers.Part of my favorite dialog, which again, I think illustrates a wealth of hidden information (paraphrasing):(her father has died in the somewhat recent past) -...so you weren't close with your dad? -Not in a good way.Nothing more is said about this, but you can see the quiet shock in Brian's face when he understand the meaning.I also enjoyed that this is a movie I could watch again and again because it doesn't rely on shock value to scare the viewer, its creepiness has a good effect on me every time. Oh, and the scene with the doll, hahahaha!

Hmmm... that should get a lot of "not helpful" votes, as all "-est of all time" comments are bound to get.Okay, too, that you say this isn't a horror film. I accept that. As far as makeup, effects, and gore go, this is on the extremely tame end of the horror spectrum, if it can even be said to fit the genre. Nevertheless, it is very scary. What do you call a really scary movie that doesn't scare you using any methods that fit the definition of "horrific", like blood etc? You got me.The true test of movie scariness, as far as I'm concerned, is how often during the viewing you feel compelled to look behind you, you know, to make sure nothing's there creeping up on you. That's it. Jumping out of your skin is of course another time-tested gauge of scariness, but movie makers now have a formula for making the audience do that whenever they want, so it's really lost most of its cache.Whatever you want to call it, this movie scared the bejesus out of me. This is a high-quality film with great acting, writing, directing, etc. The ending was also great. This movie scares you using story, subtlety, and a steady buildup that's just delicious every step of the way. Without spoiling anything, I'd just like to say that my favorite scene is when they find the doll. Tim Daly's reaction is Oscar-worthy. It's a shame this movie didn't get a proper wide release. The only thing that bothered me was that it sounded like Tom Arnold had a cold for most of his scenes. After searching the internet I've concluded that I'm the only one who noticed this.