The New Daughter (2009)

My biggest word for this is ridiculous. I don't want to give anything away about this movie because some people might enjoy this sort of thing however the whole thing is rather ludicrous. I just can't say anything else about it or it would spoil the whole thing for others.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."The New Daughter" (PG-13 - 2009 - US)Sub-Genre: Monster/ParanormalMy Score: 6.6Cast=6 Acting=8 Plot=8 Ending=4 Story=7 Scare=7 Jump=5 F/X=8 Monster=7 Creep=6A single father moves his two children to rural South Carolina, only to watch his daughter exhibit increasingly strange behavior. How Far Will A Father Go To Protect The Ones He Loves? Apparently all the way to the end of the movie...haha. You know, I liked this more than I thought I would...Kevin Costner and the girl from "Pan's Labyrinth" I mean c'mon! But the son was amazing (Gattlin Griffith)...his acting stole the show for me. I was on the edge of my seat all the way through...then the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. It's not your typical Hollywood ending; which is great...I just wanted more closure. All things considered, I think this is worth watching.

After moving to a new house, a man slowly starts to accept his young daughter's change-in-behavior in the cause of a curse connecting the strange Indian burial mound in the area and tries to free her of the danger.This is a rather enjoyable offering though it tends to fall more in line with a thriller than an actual horror film. The fact that the entire premise is unraveled so slowly due to none of the actions taken resulting in generating any actual scares but rather just the fact that something weird is happening in the first place, there's not a lot going on here that actively makes what goes on here creepy. Rather, these early scenes are all based on the general concept on her slowly getting possessed and in general just acting off from her usual behavior but never actually doing anything remotely scary or chilling while doing so, resulting in the majority of these scenes having her run away upset over the justified questioning of what's happening as if doing so is the greatest threat to her privacy she's ever faced. The slow integration with the history and presence of the Indian mound and it's influences shift this back somewhat into a more horror-filled storyline with the true nature of the possession finally coming into focus and taking the scenes from then on in the story into a more chilling phase which really highlights the rest of the movie quite well. The assault on the house, full of barricades, blocked furniture and more, makes for a great action scene and the final journey into the deepest parts of the mound do serve as some immeasurably chilling works that truly feel as though the entire purpose was to creep out from the start such is the effectiveness of these scenes. The central premise about the father's quest to protect is quite well-handled moreso as an after-thought once the full effect of what's going on is handled here since it really doesn't work when playing through but serves quite well when combined with the later information gleamed which really makes it quite enjoyable and furthers this one quite nicely. The main influence being a thriller more than horror film does hurt this one somewhat, but it's still an enjoyable and watchable effort.Rated R: Language, Violence and children-in-jeopardy.

I kept thinking Costner must have had an impending balloon payment due; why else would he agree to star in such a ghastly movie. Surely he had to know, at one point during filming, that this was a howler. I am also surprised that Samantha Mathis signed on. While she isn't stellar, she is a decent actress and has appeared in some fine films, i.e. "Jack and Sarah." The rest of the cast was new to me and while the storyline did not permit any breakaway performances, I think the little boy has a future in movies. Can't say the same for any of the other leads. Anyway, I am left with several pithy questions: (1) what was the purpose of shotgun in this tale; and (2) the more burning question: Why the heck did I stay tuned?