Touches You

Pretty Good

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I am truly horrified. Horrified at how terrible this movie is. Where to begin?Terrible lines that seem robotic or out-of-place and make you cringe.Kevin Costner trying to play a father who is caring but a pushover and ending up looking silly, tired, and disengenuous in every single scene. You can tell he didn't "prepare" for this role even a smidge.The young boy whose acting mostly consists of being frustratingly dumb (not like how kids lack insight but, you know, the dumb and stupid in a horror film kind of way) and yelling "Daddy!" over and over again.Are the belligerents spiritual beings? Are they being haunted? Animals? Sci-Fi humanoids? There is no direction.This movie plays on so many "horror movie tropes" that it becomes completely indistinguishable, unmemorable, and leave you frustrated at the time you've wasted. In the end, there's nothing eerie about the film. I've seen C-rated indie horror films shot with local actors have a more interesting plot, premise, and acting than this garbage.

I liked this movie a lot. The dark theme was spooky. Louisa and Sam did a great job. Kevin Costner has always been a "subdued" performer, and he was so in this. It is not a negative, just the way he is. The plot is interesting and different. This is not a remake of anything I have seen before and that is one reason I enjoyed it.Newly divorced father with teen daughter and young son move to upscale country home to make new beginning. After settling in, they discover a mysterious earth mound on the grounds around the home. Daughter is curious about the mound and begins spending lots of time there. Father becomes concerned when he notices changes in daughter's personality, and at first put it down to the divorce and puberty. But her brother becomes increasingly frightened at her stand-offish manner and sometimes catatonic stares. From there we see things begin to move in a more sinister direction.Of course, we have the good looking teacher who gives Costner her phone number, and the local kids who are mean and unfriendly to the "new kids". And, yes, we hear from the town folks that "something" happened to the previous owners of the home, that no one, including the realtor that sold them the home, wants to talk about. But that is where the usual movie fillers stop.If you have read any of the other reviews, you know that the blood and gore have been kept to a minimum, and there are plenty of shadows and noises to make your skin crawl. That is what keeps you wondering WHAT this is all about. For those who appreciate NOT being able to figure out what happens next, and what is tormenting these poor people, you will be glad you saw this movie.One word. Some have missed a subtle frame at the end, so keep your eyes open to understand the ending better.

Admittedly I only watched 10 minutes of it, all I could take. Just as I tuned in a child maybe 10 or so found a shotgun inside a piano, allegedly left by a previous occupant of their residence. Everyone in the scene freaked out, the children were screaming for their dad as though there was malevolent stranger in the house. The shotgun presented no danger except that the father had never instructed his son in the proper handling of a firearm. The fear of the shotgun was really super duper over the top. This movie is pure leftist trash. I'm really sick of Hollywood being the mouthpiece of the commy culture in this country. What's interesting is that most of them would not be able to do what they do in the culture they advocate because the private capitol pools they depend on can't exist in a communist society.

I really missed Kevin Costner. I don't know what it takes to get his career back on track (maybe a role in a Quentin Tarantino film?) but he really deserves a lot better than what he has going for him right now. That being said let's take a look at "The New Daughter". Off the bat it reminded me a bit about the best horror film of 2014 "The Babadook" in that we have a single parent struggling to raise a child with issues that may or may not be of supernatural cause. In "The New Daughter" Costner has two children, but only the pubescent girl is the center of the story while her younger brother is merely a distraction adding nothing whatsoever to the narrative, except some foreshadowing.The problem with this film is that it seems to shoehorn in supernatural elements that are barely explained. Personally I would have cut a third of the film at least (especially the third act) and made it into a drama/suspense film about a schizophrenic young girl. In the third act at the climax she would have a breakdown and a cathartic moment where she accepts her disease and bonds with her father etc. There you have an instant hit!I mention my own take on how the film should have been made and why I give it a 7/10 because both Kevin Costner and the kids are really great. They're not over- or underacting and the script itself aside from the supernatural element is good, especially Costner's character's role as a single father, his doubts and fears etc. Let's not forget Ivana Baquero who does a fantastic job as Costner's daughter. Her character's evolution and acting is subtle yet striking. The director really did a great job with the material he had, I just wished it was more of a psychological suspense drama and not a half-assed supernatural horror/thriller (by the way there is barely any thrill or horror to be felt watching this film).