Don't Knock Twice (2016) Reviews

• A Crooked Stairs Review (Don't Knock Twice)

  CrookedStairs2018-02-01

  Director: Caradog James Well, let's get down to it then. Being an avid horror fan for manys a year now, I would consider myself fairly clued up on current and upcoming releases within the genre. It was then more than a bit of a mystery how this flick somehow managed to slip through the net until I found out about its existence this very week! Needless to say, it went straight to the top of the must watch pile... BASIC PLOT: A woman tries to regain custody of her teenage daughter after years spent apart. The daughter however has struggles of her own, with close friends vanishing simingly at the hands of an old urban legend surrounding a sinister house nearby. As things escalate and apparitions become more violent, can the estranged family finally put the past behind them to try and save their future? REVIEW: This is a tough one. I can easily see why the internet is awash with such mixed reviews and agitated confusion regarding the movie. A simple explanation for this is no doubt because of the promise the film holds in its premise. A straight forward storyline to be sure, witches and curses a plenty, but don't we all love that in horror when it's done right? The film jumps straight into it and although it can be stated that it perhaps suffers from a lack of character development (particularly in the early stages), it did also surprise me how quickly it gets down to the initial scares. My hopes weren't all that high in the 'scare' department going into this one, but absolute credit where it's due, there were indeed some unnerving scenes scattered throughout which almost called for the flip of a light switch! The cinematography is what really drives this piece however. The camera work and shot choice help to propel the overall tone of the film, keeping things very bleak and murky but with a beautiful depth and clarity also. The acting of the 2 leading ladies is to be commended also. Both Katee Sackhoff & Lucy Boynton do their upmost to sweat out anxiety and fear for the full 93mins that the movie plays out, and indeed without these convincing performances playing off each other, the movie would have been a sure bust. It is fair to say then that the real unraveling of Don't Knock Twice is in its screenplay. It's all there-a scary urban legend, heavy and dark cinematography to back it up and strong leading actresses to deliver the characters, but when the initial story and dialogue that's drafted is mediocre at best and at worst bogged down by countless plotholes and underdeveloped characters, then the amount that an audience truly invests in the story and it's characters fates will always suffer. The ending itself is testament enough, with what should have been a thrilling and indeed terrifying conclusion instead playing out as what felt more like a rushed half-explained brush off. VERDICT:: Beautiful visuals, strong acting, a good creepy musical score throughout and a few genuinely disturbing moments help keep an underdeveloped and messy plot afloat. Well worth a watch for a fan of the genre, just don't expect the world. (6/10)

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• It might not be new but its certainly scary........

  s32761692017-02-06

  A good portion of whether something is watchable is not whether it has been done before (most things have been) but whether it is done well. Don't Knock Twice does nothing that has not been done before. That said, what it does do, it does awfully well. This is a very atmospheric horror, sounds as well as visuals, play a key part in its success. As does things hinted at or glimpsed, as well as things that are seen. The pacing is good with well timed scares occurring throughout this flick. Moreover, it manages to feel fresh and new even though its a well worn proposition. I personally put this down to decent acting and directing. Ignore the detractors and give Don't Knock Twice a go. Seven out of ten from me.

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• It wasn't terrible, but I don't buy the ending.

  WisdomsHammer2019-02-17

  As others have written, this movie does atmosphere really well, and I enjoyed that a lot. I'm not usually a fan of Katie Sackhoff but loved her performance in this. Lucy Boynton's bratty teenager role got old and she looked stunned for most of the movie, but I got past it. It had some good jump scares and some unnecessary and stupid ones, but I got past them, too. I liked the movie overall, my biggest complaint with it being the ending. Brief synopsis in my words: An old woman accused of abducting children is hounded by a young girl and her friend and an investigating cop and eventually kills herself. Her ghost comes back for revenge after the girl and her friend knock on the door of the house the old woman used to live in, like they used to to hound her. A good, old haunted house with a ghost story, right? That would have been fine by me, but then it tries to get a little too clever and attempts one twist too many and blows it - in my opinion. It also seemed like a last minute, cheap attempt to leave it open for an obvious sequel. Okay, now for some spoilers... Apparently the villain wasn't a vengeful ghost it was a demon. Wait, no, it was a child abductor AND a ghost AND a demon. Wait, no, it was some kind of witch or something working with or for the demon or something. And the old woman was innocent. She was being controlled by the demon. Wait, no, it might have been somebody else. Wait, no, it wasn't them after all, it was the old lady but now a new lady has taken her place? Oh, and the knocking twice - that doesn't mean anything after all. Wait, what? But that's the title of the movie! Y'know what? I'm not sure anymore and don't care. They had a good old ghost story going and lost it somewhere along the way. Not cool. But while I shook my head at the ending, I didn't hate this. It's still a 5 out of 10 for me just for the atmosphere and genuine creepiness of it.

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• It's all clear now

  gunesbaycan-531432017-03-06

  Well, what happened was: Mary was the demon's slave, and apparently so was Tira. There are only two ways to get out of being baba yaga's slave, and those are to either: Kill yourself, or to trick someone into doing something evil--as explained by the movie. Mary did indeed take the kids to feed the demon. And then she killed herself to be free of it (possibly from guilt after being accused of it). Tira (the model holding the baby) on the other hand, tricked Jess by lying to her that baba yaga is just an internet fairy tale, and that to save her daughter, she had to find the real kidnapper. This made Jess believe that the detective was the kidnapper, and through a series of events, Jess led the detective to the demon, effectively fulfilling the part where she was "tricked into doing something evil". At the end, Tira killed the husband to get rid of the evidence that she herself probably planted (the folder containing the interrogation with the detective), and her mark disappeared, because she was now freed of the demon's enslavement. The ending scene, was Jess being branded with the seal of the demon, concluding that she is now officially the demon's new slave.

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• Formulaic and forgettable

  Steneslore2017-02-05

  The special effects are nice and the acting is passable, but this film is way too cliché and formulaic to be enjoyable. The plot is the same as every single other "chick horror" movie ever. A pretty girl pisses off a ghost, has lots of scary visions, people don't believe her, she freaks out and acts crazy, at the end she discovers "a terrible secret". Bonus points if there's an old house and a mysterious magical person who knows all about the demon/ghost/spirit. It's disappointing that a team of clearly creative and talented British people chose to use this tired clichéd formula instead of writing something fresh and new. Too many horror films do this, it's predictable and boring and it needs to die. I refuse to believe that teenage girls are the only worthwhile demographic for horror.

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