The movie seemed like it was going to be far better than a couple horror stinkers I watched recently, but then it wasn't. It did a nice job of building suspense, with a few startles that made me jump, but ultimately, it made little sense in the end. It was established early-on that the mother was scum and her relationship with her daughter strained, so I'm not sure why we keep seeing flashbacks to just how insufficient her mothering was, though these flashbacks weren't boring at least. But the things that really made little sense to me and ruined the film were as follows:
- Several people just disappeared without so much as a scream. One would think that being dragged away in the darkness would be cause for at least a mild cry of 'help.'
- More significantly, it is established that the 'monster' is afraid of light, so the grand plan the mother comes up with is to light a torch, then put it out and let the monster get her while her daughter escapes in the darkness. Here's an idea - light the torch and carry it while you both escape together - or more simply, escape with a flashlight (which also seemed to be enough to deter the monster).
- And finally, this has to be the most flammable creature that's ever lived, done in by a cigarette lighter and some aerosol spray (that somehow the daughter knows to use to create a flamethrower).