I liked it. It's not very original of course, we've seen it all before (evil creature haunting a disturbed family) and the explanation of the why and how of this creature is pretty elaborate and far-fetched, but this having said, this movie sure makes very effective use of the clichés. For one, the acting by the female lead Teresa Palmer and by little Gabriel Bateman is great. The latter deserves special mention, he is not just cute but totally convincing as the terrified yet firm and in-spite-of-himself brave son and little brother.
The CGI of the creature is very well done. The concept of seeing only its extremely creepy silhouette in the dark and nothing when the lights are on, but when the lights are turned off again it turns out to have leapt several yards forward, creates a hair-raisingly scary effect. The final showdown is fast paced and exciting, and the solution as to how the creature is destroyed is quite harsh and unexpected. I also liked the ending after all the turmoils of the showdown, at last a horror-movie without the usual ultimate 5 seconds shock-image to send the viewers home with. Here the survivors are allowed to just cuddle up into each-others arms and heave a well-deserved sigh of relieve. Oh, and watch the closing credits roll by for a change, they're beautiful and very ingeniously designed, totally in style with the movie.
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