Godfearing Christians will not appreciate this movie. Fortunately, I'm not one of them. It is a shocking but quite predictable thriller with certainly appealing cinematography and decent directing by actor Paxton (Aliens, Near Dark, Weird Science). It must have been a fairly simple project, adequate for starter Paxton, who succeeded with cinematographer Bill Butler (The Conversation, Demon Seed, Jaws) in making this a pretty eerie thriller. The psychology in the story (that probably really happened here and there, and on a greater scale too) is the scariest besides what's going on off-screen occasionally. The absence of humour and non-linearity of the story makes the movie a bit mature, although there isn't a real point to be discovered. Except that besides cigarettes, religion can kill (you). Don't think about it too much afterwards, lads.
The best roles are played by the two boys. O'Leary and Sumpter are quite stirring throughout the movie and give Paxton's role much more meaning, although McConaughey and Paxton never completely convince. That seems like a hint for shocks to come, but turns out to be just not-so-good acting. I'd like to see Paxton return to less mature roles like the ones in the movies mentioned above.
BTW, it's good to hear someone remember the great film 'The Warriors' (Hill, 1979) in a movie. Also, the scene where Paxton discovers the first instrument for 'God's Hands' reminded me delightfully of 'Near Dark' (Bigelow, 1986) very much with its burning sunlight through that shed in the middle of nowhere. I would like to see this again in contrast with lots of teenage slashers of the past ten years. 7/10
The best roles are played by the two boys. O'Leary and Sumpter are quite stirring throughout the movie and give Paxton's role much more meaning, although McConaughey and Paxton never completely convince. That seems like a hint for shocks to come, but turns out to be just not-so-good acting. I'd like to see Paxton return to less mature roles like the ones in the movies mentioned above.
BTW, it's good to hear someone remember the great film 'The Warriors' (Hill, 1979) in a movie. Also, the scene where Paxton discovers the first instrument for 'God's Hands' reminded me delightfully of 'Near Dark' (Bigelow, 1986) very much with its burning sunlight through that shed in the middle of nowhere. I would like to see this again in contrast with lots of teenage slashers of the past ten years. 7/10