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Zach (Michael Johnston) is suffering from cerebral palsy, which means
he needs constant care and can do nothing on his own - and ever since they
lost their mother (Gwen Holloway) in an accident Zach had to witness in
the helpless state he's in, his sister Emily (Margaret Judson) is taking
care of him ... but it's just too big a burden for the young woman to
carry on her own, so she and her boyfriend Jesse (Devin Goodsell) have
decided to move to the country to leave him in care at a neighbouring
clinic specialized on Zach's condition where Emily can visit frequently.
So Emily, Jesse and Zach check out their new country home with their
friends Woodrow (Mark Furze) and Michelle (Bobby T). The house is weird:
Basically it's a lovely place, but it's all boarded up, and it's riddled
with symptoms that refer to demons, as our heroes find out eventually. But
then a miracle happens, Zach gets better - much better, he can walk and
talk again, nowhere near perfectly, but it's a huge improvement already.
Thing is, it's not Zach himself, it's his body possessed by a demon, and
as demons are, this one's not very benevolent and soon gets our little
rag-tag team at each other's throats because he knows some of their
secrets, and can conjure up images of those our heroes have a guilty
conscience about. Thing is, it's almost too late when they notice they are
manipuated by demons, and then the demons start to control some of them,
and the only way out seems to physically harm those obsessed - and yet the
demons feed on the feelings of those who desparately want to get healed,
so - well it's a vicious circle, and a very bloody one ... Now
there's a clever little horror movie - not essentially because of the
shocks and suspense as such, but because it on one hand is extremely
successful at keeping one guessing, and on the other it brings the really
morbid element into play that to survive you might have to kill your
friends - which not only keeps the story unpredictable (see above), it
also sees to it that the film is appropriately bloody, with the shock not
only deriving from someone being hurt/killed but also from one of the
protagonists having to do the damage. Now combine this with a very dynamic
directorial effort and very solid acting from all involved, and you end up
with a very cool piece of horror, actually!
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