The Skeptic (2009)

There are already plenty of reviews for this film that perfectly sum up the entire experience. A great movie, fantastic development, truly creepy atmospherics and psychological horror but a truly horrible ending.So instead of give my opinion of the movie, I'd like to present everyone who watched it and was deflated by the last scene with The Alternative Ending To Skeptic (The Haunting of Bryan Becket), written and produced by David Sharrock, budget zero. You may not like it, but it's my attempt to spice things up and give that last scene some bazoom instead of the reality which is something of a flacid wither.First a recap. Spoilers here, so if you haven't watched this movie, stop reading right now. I mean it. Look away. Go watch the real thing then come back and get the alternative ending, because you're going to want it.Bryan Becket (Tim Daly) is a skeptic. He doesn't believe in anything and follows the basic rules of skepticism. He has a pretty good bullsh*t radar and knows good science from bad science. He's a lawyer, so logic and a sound ability to analyze any given situation are strong points for him.When his aunt dies, Bryan is typically candid about his feelings. He doesn't have any. But he's thrilled that his aunt's death means he'll inherit an enormous Gothic mansion.Things are not going great between Bryan and his wife Robin so Bryan announces a trial separation (much to Robin's dismay) and moves into his aunt's house. When good buddy and business partner Sully (Tom Arnold) reveals that the aunt had a will and that the house has been left to a paranormal investigator working at the local college, Bryan is understandably miffed and goes in search of said professor. Their first meeting isn't particularly affable, but when Bryan starts seeing things in the house he seeks the professor's advice and discovers that the prof is just a big a skeptic as Bryan himself purports to be. For the rest, go watch the movie.The alternative final scene (relies on certain previous scenes being changed a bit. Namely that Cassie looks in the closet in her last scene before the end and that the Sully/Bryan scene doesn't take place in court near the end..."Cassie?" shouts Bryan. "Where are you?" He rings her mobile and, to his surprise, hears a ringing sound coming from under the blankets of the bed next to him. He pulls the covers back slowly to reveal Cassie's phone."What the?" Bryan picks up the phone and examines it with a puzzled frown. His eyes move across the room to crucifix closet - you know, the place his mother used to lock him for days at a time. He steps toward the door and puts his hand on the handle. Turns handle. Door creaks open. Flash of blood everywhere in the shadows. Blood on the notes, on the walls, on the statue of Mary.Flashback to Robin frowning at the closet door and heading over to open it as Bryan cowers behind his son. She screams, hands flying to her face. Cut to Bryan covered in blood, doing something on the floor. Cut to Bryan dragging the bodies into the closet 'ok mother? Can I go now?' Flashback to Sully scaring the sh*t out of everyone with his mask routine. But this time Bryan isn't laughing. Cut to Bryan dragging an unconscious Sully upstairs. Cut to Bryan opening the closet door and dragging Sully inside. Cut to Sully opening his eyes and screaming.Flashback to priest coming to visit and getting same treatment. Cut to Bryan having nice breakfast with Cassie and leaving, but then returning as she's peeking into the closet, looming up behind her. She screams at what she sees then Bryan hits her across the back of her head.Next scene: Bryan in the basement standing over the trunk. Lifts it slowly to reveal black bags, bloodied. A hand sticks out of one - Cassie's. He sobs as he looks up. A shadow cross his face. A doll shaped shadow, floating in the air. "Mother?" Whispers: "Bryan." Cut to credits.

TIM DALY stars as a skeptical lawyer with no belief in the supernatural who moves into the house of a deceased aunt when his marriage breaks up. He soon believes that he's not alone in the creepy mansion and begins to doubt his sanity after some encounters of a ghostly kind that might just be happening in his head.Before he knows it, he's getting assistance from a woman psychic (ZOE SALDANA) who tells him the house holds a grim secret. Gradually, we discover that the key to the haunting lies in his past, when he was subjected to harsh treatment at the age of five from a mother whose punishment makes "Mommie Dearest" look like "Snow White." So far, so good. There are some nice shivery moments but we keep hoping for our hero to see the light and discover just what is going on. It takes a little too long to reach that conclusion and when it does, the ending is an unsatisfying letdown that leaves you jolted just as the end credits begin to unfold. That's it? Yes, an ambiguous and terribly disappointing and empty stone wall conclusion that provides more questions than answers.Most viewers will feel cheated by the ending, after a fairly good case of goose pimples from a low key, rather tepid ghost story. In the central role of the lawyer, Tim Daly proves almost as adept at drama as he was in comedy roles. TOM ARNOLD, as a sympathetic colleague, has little to do but bark his lines in snappy fashion.

The movie begins and constructs itself with a pretty decent structure. It often shocks you with a sudden unexpected horror tricks and you've to spare those scenes even if your mind says that its a cliché. Suddenly, the movie ends with an epic conclusion of absurdity, leaving ton of unanswered questions, while you end up convincing yourself that," OK! its not a mystery, its a bad story". What happened to him? is he dead? is he knocked down? what happened to his wife? whats the purpose of the psychic girl if she didn't prove anything? is he imagining his mother repenting for her sins or as in her soul regrets her sins? A decent ending would be him crying in front of her wife, emotionally broke and showing some respect for the world and not being a jerk, who sees the world as a skeptic. But no the writer had to crown a masterpiece with a puddle of mud to create some kind of mystery which is out of fashion in horror movies these days. It could have been an 8 movie but below 6 now, and that's the price you pay by spoiling a perfect story.

Sometimes movies just don't get a lot of attention because of their names, like this one, The Skeptic, which is an interesting name for a romantic comedy but not for a haunted house story. Too bad the big movie house monopolies don't play indie films. We have to find these things on DVDs or sneak a look at them online. It was cool seeing Tom Arnold playing a dramatic role but I gotta tell ya, he seemed a bit out of breath and I don't think it was intentional. I hope he is okay, health-wise.I give it a six because its merits outweigh its flaws, but ultimately The Skeptic is a confused story of a guy who leaves his wife to live in the house of his recently deceased Aunt. Of course the house is haunted. Unfortunately the loose ends of this psychological and supernatural story never get tied up and a few things happen that seem to be downright absurd. For example, why would this guy who has apparently inherited this big mansion filled with priceless treasures leave the front door unlocked? Come on. And what happened to the dispute over who the house was left to in the will? One moment we learn that the house was actually left to some scientist who is researching the paranormal, and then we never hear about that again and the house simply continues to be in the possession of the main character who drinks the wine in the wine cellar and who kicks over tables and pretty much goes nuts in there. And there are other annoying flaws in the story as well.But all in all this is a fairly decent ghost story with two big scares that will make you jump out of your chair. It is really reminiscent of those old black and white haunted house movies during which you don't know if the house is really haunted or if someone is just playing mind games for some evil purpose. Oh, but then, abruptly, there comes the ending, which is unfortunately a huge anti-climax. Please don't throw whatever is in your hand at the screen when this movie ends; it's not worth the damage.