What I liked, or even loved, about this movie is the same stuff that drew everyone in.
The film looks great, Detroit is a textured and very un-Californian place. The cast is interestingly ordinary-seeming, even the pretty protagonist. The story is nuanced and interesting, and the pacing is deliberate rather than Hollywood (which I'd describe as "frenetic-with-pauses-for-rote-character-development").
I dislike over-explained sf/fantasy/horror, and it didn't go there. I dislike films where everyone does or doesn't believe the protagonist in a blatantly schematic fashion, and I'm really glad it didn't go there, either.
Another thing I'm not into is horror movies based on monster-killing action scenes, so there's one scene in this film that almost spoilt it for me. It's basically my only gripe about the film, so it's a shame it's such a pivotal and dramatic scene, giving us the setup for the ending. It was either a clumsy attempt at an action scene or a failure to up the stakes from the suspense that came before.
Luckily, what followed was in fact a good ending, and by the time the credits finally rolled I was back on side again. I liked almost everything about the movie, after all. The script, the look, the performances, the concept, the ending...
90% great is a vast improvement over most US horror movies I've seen lately, so I'll try not to complain too much about that one scene.
The film looks great, Detroit is a textured and very un-Californian place. The cast is interestingly ordinary-seeming, even the pretty protagonist. The story is nuanced and interesting, and the pacing is deliberate rather than Hollywood (which I'd describe as "frenetic-with-pauses-for-rote-character-development").
I dislike over-explained sf/fantasy/horror, and it didn't go there. I dislike films where everyone does or doesn't believe the protagonist in a blatantly schematic fashion, and I'm really glad it didn't go there, either.
Another thing I'm not into is horror movies based on monster-killing action scenes, so there's one scene in this film that almost spoilt it for me. It's basically my only gripe about the film, so it's a shame it's such a pivotal and dramatic scene, giving us the setup for the ending. It was either a clumsy attempt at an action scene or a failure to up the stakes from the suspense that came before.
Luckily, what followed was in fact a good ending, and by the time the credits finally rolled I was back on side again. I liked almost everything about the movie, after all. The script, the look, the performances, the concept, the ending...
90% great is a vast improvement over most US horror movies I've seen lately, so I'll try not to complain too much about that one scene.