When I started this blog I had an
initial list of 153 posts planned out. The first 151 went off
without a hitch, posting every week on Monday and Friday. However,
this film represents the single addition to those 153 posts
(disregarding my Wednesday Reviews),
because it came out after I'd already started the blog. It also
represents the first regular review I've posted that was previously a
Wednesday Review although
as of this writing I've already written two others for future use.
Looking back at
that earlier review, I'm not proud of it. It seems rushed, and at
times almost incoherent. I generally understand what I was trying to
say, but I'm not entirely sure I said it. Perhaps this time around
I'll be able to better express myself.
How slowly do these
films move forward? The sixth entry starts by showing us the ending
of the third. Apparently there was no need to remind us of anything
in the last two entries, because they were both so utterly
inconsequential.
With this film all
pretense of realism is completely out the window. Our protagonist,
Ryan (Chris J. Murray), finds a camera in his new house with a
completely unique design. The camera seems to glitch periodically,
but it eventually becomes clear that the glitches are actually Toby,
who is haunting Ryan's daughter Leila (Ivy George).
Ryan also uncovers
a series of tapes featuring the witch-training of Kristi (Jessica
Tyler Brown) and Katie (Chloe Csengery). The children are able to
describe the activities of Ryan and his family in the future, and
what Leila's bedroom looks like. They're being trained by a man
credited as Kent (Don McManus), whose presence in this film is a
holdover from an alternate ending. There's no reason their training
couldn't have been done by Lois (Hallie Foote).
Concerned about the
safety of his family, and realizing that the owners of the house that
previously stood on their new property captured a great deal of
supernatural footage, Ryan decides to try his luck. He recruits his
brother Mike (Dan Gill), who moved in with the family following a
break-up, and gets grudging acceptance from his wife Emily (Brit
Shaw). And so, he sets up cameras around the house...duh...
I have to admit
that this film makes at least some effort to address my biggest
concern with the previous films: clueless protagonists. While most
of the footage Ryan finds in the house is original to this movie, it
at least gives him the basic idea of a cult, a demon, and children
being used as tools of evil relatively early in the film. We don't
feel like we're waiting for him to catch up with us.
The film uses the
fact that Ryan only has one camera that can see Toby to it's
advantage. He sets up cameras in multiple positions all over the
house, so we can cut between them, but only one can show us exactly
what Toby's doing, so we often know where he is, but only find out
why when he takes action.
Toby's appearance
isn't especially scary, but it makes sense for what's been
established. He's a floating, amorphous blob that often assumes a
roughly human shape. I don't believe there's any indication that
he's insubstantial, but he's malleable enough and mobile enough to
simply move around people with ease until he wants to interact with
them.
Eventually it
becomes clear that Leila is Toby's target, as she begins to interact
with him, and refuses to leave her room. She draws strange pictures,
and begins using Toby's name. At one point she disappears
temporarily through a portal in her bedroom, only to reappear again.
Eventually, a
priest (Michael Krawic) is called in to help them. Father Todd is
probably one of the most active characters I've ever seen in this
series. He explains that Toby is haunting Leila, not the house, and
that a simple exorcism is not enough. Instead, what the priest calls
a Ritual of Extermination is necessary to destroy Toby once and for
all.
The Extermination
scene is intense, and we get to hear a scream from Toby when's he's
briefly trapped in a magical circle, and draped in a holy-water
soaked bedsheets. It's unbelievably satisfying after six movies.
Finally, he's not invincible, and actual drama has entered the story.
Unfortunately, the ritual does eventually fail, and the usual
bloodbath ensues from an enraged Toby. With the aid of the camera
we're treated to a CGI-fest that's at minimum entertaining. Killing
the lights and presenting the whole scene to us in night vision
helps. The CGI of this scene is far more elaborate than the rest of
the film, and I imagine it would have looked incredibly cheap in
color.
The film gives us
the semblance of an ending, but it leaves just as many questions
open. Apparently Toby was one of the “Seven Princes of Hell,”
and the entire series was an attempt to use Leila and Hunter's (Aiden
Lovecamp) blood to give him a physical body. Emily, the only
survivor of the ritual, follows Leila through the portal into the
1980s...where the ritual successfully gives Toby a body before the
series even starts,and he kills Emily.
I have no idea how
this was supposed to be an ending. If this was the Cult's endgame
then it was a pretty lame one. What does Toby plan to do with his
newly acquired legs? I don't have a clue.
That said, I think
a lot of the negative reviews that paint this film as the worst of
the series are a bit overblown. It's not good, but it's fun. It's
at least more exciting than a number of the previous entries in this
series.
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